"Well, the album is finished, " JC said.

The other guys nodded and Justin said, "Management took it pretty well." Joey, Chris and JC looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. Justin shrugged, "Well, at least they didn't kill us!" A month before, right after they had received the video from Lance, they had went and talked to JIVE. Needless to say there had been a lot of yelling and a lot of threats. But after days of negotiating, JIVE had agreed to let them go ahead with the album. They worked on their vocals and worked on adding Lance's and were now finished.

"What are we going to tell the public? When are we going to tell the public?" Joey asked.

Chris sighed and said, "Well, the sooner the better, I think. How about when we go on TRL next week to talk about the album?" The other three looked at each other and agreed.

"I can't believe that Lance would do this to us!" Justin exclaimed, looking angry.

"Justin, he..."

Chris interupted Joey, "We know, Joey. He had to take care of himself. And, he should. But to just run off one day and send us a video?! He should of had a little more respect, than that, for us!" The other three didn't have anything to say to that, so they stayed silent.

One Week Later

"Hello, everyone! Welcome to TRL," said the VJ, Hillary. "Today, we have some special guests for you. NSYNC will be coming out in a few minutes!" The crowd cheered and she continued, "Let's start by seeing the number ten video. "Feeling This" by Blink-182!"

Half-an-hour later, after the number seven video, Hillary said, "Welcome....NSYNC!" The crowd stood up, cheering, as Joey, Chris, JC and Justin walked out onto the set. Each of them gave Hillary a small hug and she said, "Thanks guys for being here today."

"No problem, TRL is like a second home to us." Justin answered.

Hillary smiled, "You guys are here to talk about your new album, right?" When they nodded, she continued, "I see that Lance isn't here today. Could you tell us why?"

The four guys had somber faces and Chris answered, "He isn't here because he's away. He's had some....personal problems and had to get away for a while."

The crowd started chatting, sounding sympathetic. After they had quited down, Hillary asked, "Nothing serious?"

The four guys looked at each other and silently decided to tell the truth. Chris sighed and said, "Lance is at a rehab center. He got into the partying and drinking too much. He's decided to leave this lifestyle and to leave the band." The crowd erupted in gasps and people asking questions.

Hillary held up a hand and said, "Please quiet down. Listen to what they have to say."

"Thanks. We're not disbanning the group. We'll always be NSYNC. And, Lance is just leaving for a while, he needs time to get himself in a place that he's happy with. But he is on the new album."

Hillary smiled, "Good. Is Lance alright? Do you know when he'll be back?"

JC answered, "He's okay. We're not sure when he'll be back. The most important thing is that he gets himself better and is happy. That's all we care about."

Hillary gave a sad smile and said, "We're all really sorry to hear about Lance." She turned to the crowd, "Isn't that right?"

The crowd yelled, "YES."

Hillary nodded and turned back to the guys. "Okay, what's the new album going to be called?"

"Life. We chose that name because this album is very personal to us. We wrote ninety percent of the songs ourselves. There are happy songs, angst songs, and so on. And, that's how life is. It can be good and it can be bad." Joey answered.

"That's cool....we all can't wait to hear it. When will it be coming out?"

"In two months, actually. Febuary twentieth. We hope that everyone enjoys it," Chris said.

"I'm sure we will, " Hillary said with a smile. "Well, thanks again for coming by today. It was great seeing you. Could you please introduce the next video for us?"

The guys nodded and Justin started, "This is the number four video."

Justin, Chris, JC and Joey said the name together, "This is Clay Aiken with "Invisable."

An hour later the guys were dropped off at Joey's house. They had decided to just hang out a little before their scheduale got too packed. "When's the next interview?," Justin asked.

"Tomorrow. At noon with People Magazine. Lance was always better at this scheduale stuff then we are," said Chris. Joey and Justin nodded their agreement as they walked into Joey's house.

When they got to the livingroom, they were greeted by Kelly and Brianna. "Hey, sweetie. How did TRL go?," asked Kelly as she sat Brianna down in her playpen.

Joey sighed, "Okay. We had to tell them the truth about Lance."

Kelly walked over and hugged Joey and said, "I know that that had to have been hard on y'all."

Chris and Justin sat down on the floor and picked Brianna up out of her playpen. "Hey, Bri, what's up?"

Brianna put her right arm around Justin's neck and smiled, "Uncle Justy!"

That caused everyone to laugh and Justin said, "Yep, it's Uncle Justy. What'cha doin'?"

Brianna just shrugged and looked at Chris and Joey. "Hey Uncle Chris. Hey Uncle JC. Hey daddy!" She paused for a minute and looked around the room. "Where's Uncle Lancey?" The guys and Kelly sighed. They all sat down, surrounding Brianna.

"Remember the talk that your mommy and I had with you? We told you that Uncle Lancey was off getting better?" Brianna nodded and Joey continued, "Well, he's still getting help. He has to make himself better before we can see him again. But he's thinking of you everyday...I promise." Joey didn't know if Lance was thinking about Brianna or the rest of them. But he wasn't about to tell his baby what was really going on.

"Understand, hunny?" Kelly asked.

Brianna stayed still for a minute and then slightly nodded.

"I'm going to head back to the house in Orlando in a couple of days. Is that okay?" Kelly asked Joey.

Joey nodded, "Yeah. I'll be there next week. We have a few interviews to do before then."

Chapter 2

Lance sighed as he picked up the phone, dialing a number that he knew by memory. After a couple of rings, a voice said, "Hello?"

"Kelly?"

He heard a gasp and then, "Lance?! Is that really you?"

"Yeah, it is. Listen, can you put me on speaker please?"

"Sure, hold on a second."

A few seconds later, he heard, "Lance!" He could tell that it had been Joey that had yelled.

He took a deep breath and said, "Hey all."

"Uncle Lancey! Hi!"

Lance smiled and said, "Hey, Princess. How are you?"

"I okay. I miss you."

Lance's heart broke and he said, "I miss you too."

"Lance," Chris started, "what are you calling for?"

"Um, listen, is there a few days that you can take to come up here? It's improtant."

They were all going over the scheduale, in their head, and Justin said, "We have a few days off next week. And, I'm sure that we can rescheduale anything that we have."

Joey and Chris agreed and Lance said, "Good. Could you please bring Kelly and Brianna too?"

Joey looked at Kelly and when she nodded, he answered, "They'll be there."

"Great. Um, I have to go. But, I'm at Rose Garden in Biloxi, Mississippi.

"Okay, we have it. We'll see you next week, Lance." Joey said. They all said their goodbyes and hung up.

One Week Later

"Here we are," Joey said as he pulled the van into the parking garage.

"Good. Now, let's get in there and see what Lance's deal is!"

"Chris," JC admonished, "be nice."

Chris raised an eyebrow and said, "Always."

"Whatever you say, Shorty," said Kelly. They all piled out of the van and walked into the building. As soon as they entered, they saw Mr. and Mrs. Bass and Lance's sister, Stacey with her husband, Ford.

"Mr. and Mrs. Bass, hello. Hello Stacy, Ford." Justin said, shaking their hands. They could see that they all had been crying.

"Hello boys. Hello Kelly. Hey Brianna." Said Diane Bass.

"Are you all here to see Lance?," asked Jim Bass.

"Yes, sir, " answered Chris.

"We got a call from him last week. He said that he wanted to talk to us and that it was important," said JC.

"He's been expecting you guys all day today. He wouldn't even let the nurses hook his machines up until you had come and gone. He didn't wanna scare Brianna," Stacey said as she sniffeled.

"Machines? What are you talking about? Isn't this a rehab center?" Joey asked with a confussed look.

"You guys didn't know?" Questioned Stacey.

At their confussed looks, Ford added, "This is a hospice. Lance has HIV, guys. He shouldn't be here, but he got real sick a few days ago. For some reason, it's hit him fast and hard and they're not giving him long. They say, it might be a couple of days."

"Oh my God," Kelly whispered.

"Do you want to go on back? He'll want to see you," said Diane.

They all nodded and followed Diane to Lance's room. When they reached the room, they all walked in and Diane said, "Lance. There are some people here to see you."

Lance sat up in his bed and saw who was with Diane. "Thanks, mama." Diane nodded and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

"Hi all," Lance said.

"What happened? Why didn't you tell us you had HIV?" JC demanded as they all walked over to Lance's bed.

"I didn't know when I sent the video. The results hadn't arrived. And, when I called, I didn't want to tell you. It's not exactly something you say over the phone."

"Yeah, I can understand that, " said Justin.

Lance covered his mouth and coughed. When he was finished, he started speaking, "Anyways, I wanted to see you all and talk to you. I figure it's time that we cleared the air. I saw y'all on TRL."

"Yeah, we decided to just tell the truth, " said JC.

Lance nodded, "That's good. Our fans deserve to know. I'll have to break this to them. Actually, I talked to Entertainment Tonight and they're suppossed to be here in a couple of days, to do an interview. I figure it's time to be completely honest."

The others nodded and he asked, "Can I hold Bri?"

Kelly nodded, "Sure." She sat Brianna onto Lance's lap. Brianna wrapped her arms around Lance's neck and smiled at him.

Lance smiled back and asked, "How ya doing, Princess?"

Brianna shrugged and said, "I miss you." She then stuck her bottom lip out, pouting.

Lance laughed and said, "I see you've been taking lessons from Justin."

"Hey!," said an indignant Justin as they all laughed.

Lance talked to Brianna a little and played Patty Cake with her and then turned to Kelly. He moved his eyes from hers and to the door and back. She got the message and took Brianna. "We'll be outside with the Basses," she said.

After the door closed, Lance faced the other four guys and said, "I didn't want Brianna to have to hear what I tell you." The other guys sat down in chairs and moved them close to the bed.

"Okay, Lance, what happened? I thought we were all best friends. I just thought you would have a little more respect for us, then to just leave oneday and not show back up." Said Chris. They could all tell that even though he was heart broken over what was going on, he was still harboring some anger.

Lance sighed, "I'm really sorry about that, guys. It hit me that I needed help and I went straight there. I know that it was unfair of me to just leave and not tell any of you. All I can ask is that you please forgive me. That's another reason I wanted to see you all, I wanted to make peace. I know what the doctors are saying, that I only have days, mabey weeks. I just didn't want to go without making things right."

Everyone was silent for a few minutes and then Justin started speaking, "I was hurt and dissapointed that day. But I'm not going to hold it against you. You had to do what was right for you, for once." With that said, Justin got up and hugged Lance. Chris, Joey and JC followed suit and they had a group hug that lasted a while. When they had all pulled apart, they all had tears in their eyes.

"I'm with Justin. I was angry but I understand," said Chris.

"Thanks," whispered Lance. He started having a coughing fit.

"What do we do?!," asked a frightened Joey.

"Call the nurse!," exclaimed JC. Joey pushed the call button and a second later, a nurse quickly walked in.

"He's having a coughing fit!," exclaimed Chris.

The nurse nodded and walked over to Lance. She put an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth and lightly hit on his back. A few minutes later, he stopped coughing, and collapsed backwards. His red was face and he had tears running down his cheeks from all the coughing.

The nurse turned to Joey, JC, Justin and Chris. "I think you all need to leave for the time being. He needs his rest and visiting hours are almost over," she said.

"But...., " JC started.

"You can come back in the morning." The guys sighed, nodding, and walked over to Lance.

"We'll see you tomorrow, Scoop," Joey said. Lance weakly nodded.

They all hugged him and Chris said, "We all love ya, man."

"Love y'all too. Joey, give Kelly and Brianna a hug and kiss for me."

Joey smiled, "Sure thing. Bye." Lance closed his eyes as the guys closed the door.

'Everything's worked out,' was his last thought.

Chapter 3

"Code Blue! Code Blue! Room twenty-three!," a voice was yelling over the intercom.

"Oh my God! That's Lance's room!," exclaimed a panicked Diane Bass.

They all ran to the room and watched as a crash cart, several nurses and two doctors entered the room.

"What's going on?! That's my brother in there!," Stacey yelled as she tried to get into the room.

"You can't come in here. Wait in the lobby and somebody will be out to talk to you shortly." With that said, the nurse closed the door to Lance's room.

Diane collapsed in Jim's arms and Stacey did the same with Ford.

"It's okay," Jim soothed as he led his wife to a chair.

"How can you say that, Jim?! That's our baby in there!"

Jim nodded as tears rolled down his cheeks, "I know, sweetie. I know." They all sat there, with tears running down their faces, hugging each other and praying.

Two hours later, a doctor walked over to them. He held out his hand, his heart breaking as he looked at the family. "I'm Doctor Milhouse."

"How's Lance?," Jim quickly asked.

The doctor sighed and said, "Please sit down." They slowly did as he said. He continued, "I'm sorry. We tried everything but we lost him. His body just wasn't strong enough."

"Oh my God!," Stacey cried as Ford held her.

"He's dead? He can't be dead, that's our baby in there!" Cried Diane.

"I'm really sorry." The doctor said. He then got up and left the greiving family alone.

A couple of hours later Joey got a call in his hotel room. He looked at the clock and scowled. 'It's one in the morning. Whoever this is better have a good reason for calling!' He thought as he picked up the phone. "Hello?" A minute later the scowl dissapeared, replaced with disbelief.

"Could you...., " Jim Bass started. He had to stop, and chock back a sob, and then continued, "Could you please...call the other guys? And, could one of y-you please call and let the news know, before it gets out?"

"Of course, Mr. Bass," Joey replied as he silently cried.

"Thank you, I have to go."

"Of course. We'll be down there as soon as we can." After they said their goodbyes, they hung. Joey reached to his right and shook the figure beside him. "Kelly? Sweetie, get up."

Kelly rolled over and sleepily opened her eyes. "What is it, Joey?" She saw that Joey had his head bent and she heard loud sobs. She sat straight up and asked, "Joey? Baby, what's the matter?!"

Joey turned to face her and said, "Mr. Bass just called. Lance passed away a few hours ago."

"Oh my God," Kelly whispered as tears immediatly sprung to her eyes.

"He wants me to call the others. And, he wants one of us to call and let the news know."

Kelly in a chocked voice said, "I'll cal the others. Get yourself and Brianna ready." Joey silently nodded and got out of bed.

An hour later, Kelly who was holding Brianna, Joey, JC, Justin and Chris all rushed into the hospice lobby. They rushed over to the Basses and everyone hugged each other.

"Special news today. Lance Bass, of the popular group NSYNC, has passed away last night at nine. He was diagnosed with HIV a few weeks ago and contacted a virus. His body wasn't able to fight it and he lost the battle. Our prayers and thoughts are with his friends and family." Said Kurt Loder from MTV News.

Entertainment Tonight, NBC, CBS, VH1 and several other stations announced Lance's death within a few minutes of learning about it.

"I can't believe this. We were suppossed to be back to see him this morning," said JC.

"I know. I'm just.....I'm just glad that we made peace. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if we hadn't," said Justin. The other guys agreed.

"Daddy? I don't understand, what's going on?" They all looked at Brianna.

"Sweetie, you know how your mother and I explained that life is a big circle? People are born and then they have to leave?" When Brianna nodded, he continued, "That's what has happened with Uncle Lance. He had to leave for a while. But he's happy and you'll see him again oneday. Do you understand?" They all knew that she understood, when they saw tears rolling down her face.

Two Days Later

They all sat with the Basses at Lance's funeral. There were hundreds of people there. The Chasez's, the Kirkpatricks, the Fatones, the Timberlakes, Lance's buissness associates from A Happy Place and FreeLance Entertainment, Backstreet Boys, Emmanuelle Chiquri and several other celebrities were there. The preacher started speaking, "Today we will lay brother Lance Bass to rest. At twenty-four, he was much to young to lose. But we entrust him into the Lord's hands and know he is happy. Please bow your heads and close your eyes." He then led everyone in a prayer, "Heavenly Father. Please accept Lance Bass into your loving arms. Please keep your hand on his friends and family. In Jesus's name, Amen." "Please go to the Garden burial grounds."

Half-an-hour later, everyone had gathered at the burial grounds. They had Lance's casket open, letting everyone pay their last respects. "And," the preacher said after everyone had paid their respects, "now Joey Fatone, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick and Justin Timberlake would like to sing a song for their friend." The four guys stepped upto the four microphones and chocked down their tears. Soft, haunting music started playing and Justin started singing.

After the guys finished singing, they walked over to Lance's casket and each tossed a white rose inside.

(*Lyrics sung by Mariah Carey from her Emotions album. No copyright infringement intended*)

My NSYNC Fan Fiction
My Fan Fiction Stories
Go Home
My Main Site
My Store-Movies, Books, Ect.