Lance felt the bed move as his lover crawled in beside him, smelling of stale alcohol, cigarette smoke and cheap perfume. He looked at the clock on his nightstand with bleary eyes and held back his sigh. Six am. Joey had left the hotel last night at eleven to go to the club. Seven hours he was gone… how was that right? Why should he have to spend the night alone while Joey was out partying and doing God knows what to God knows who.
With a disgusted sigh, Lance threw back the covers, not caring if he disturbed Joey or not. When he realized that the older man was efficiently passed out, he stalked across the room and slammed the door to the bathroom to take a shower. He knew Joey would be dead to the world for the next few hours and they didn’t have to be at the venue until two o’clock, so that gave him some time to call Paul and do some work for FreeLance and A Happy Place.
After his shower he took his contracts and his laptop to the common room where JC was propped up at the table, writing furiously in his notebook. Lance’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, and he looked at JC who wasn’t aware that someone had entered the room.
“I’m sorry, I think I must have the wrong room. The JC I know is never awake at six-thirty in the morning.”
JC glanced up in surprise and quickly snapped his notebook shut. After recovering from the initial shock, he ran his hand through his hair.
“I’m awake because I haven’t gone to bed yet,” he told him. “What are you doing up so early?”
Lance just scowled in response and put his things down on the table before heading into the kitchenette to fix himself something for breakfast.
“Do you want something?” Lance called and looked around the corner to watch JC shake his head.
Lance leaned against the doorframe and watch JC intently as he waited for his toast to pop. Lance had always appreciated his older friend’s tall, lean frame and his ability to succeed at almost everything he tried his hand at. He sighed almost wistfully as he stared at him.
“You know C, maybe you should hit the sack. We’ve got a long day today and you don’t want to be sleeping through it.” He suggested.
“I would… and I’ve tried to sleep, but I have such a crick in my neck that it’s hindering anything I do. You know when you just have that dull throb?”
Lance nodded. “Yeah. Well...do you want me to rub it for you?”
“Would you mind?” JC looked surprised.
“Not at all,” Lance replied and walked over to the chair JC was sitting in. “Just tell me if I press too hard on a tender spot.”
“Ok.” JC agreed and bit back a moan when Lance’s warm hands touched his shoulders. His chin dropped forward onto his chest and he almost immediately relaxed when Lance’s hands began their ministrations. “Oh man...I think you went into the wrong field of work.”
Lance smiled but said nothing. After several minutes, JC began to roll his shoulders and rotate his head, so Lance ceased with the massage.
“That feels so much better, thanks. Now I know who to come to when my muscles are tight.” JC stood up and grinned. “Let me know if I can ever repay the favor.”
Lance watched as JC headed into his bedroom and closed the door behind him. He exhaled the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and looked up toward the ceiling.
“I would love for you to lay your hands on me, Josh.” He sighed wistfully. His head snapped up in surprise. Where did that thought come from? How come he was just now noticing that he had feelings for JC? He suddenly smelled something burning. “Oh shit! My breakfast!”
He ran into the kitchen and looked into the frying pan and frowned. The bacon was burnt to a crisp and he didn’t think Busta would even eat it.
There was a noise from behind him and he turned around to see Chris coming out of his room yawning, while one hand idly scratched his belly.
“What’s burning?” He asked sleepily and flopped into one of the chairs at the table.
“What’s left of my breakfast.” Lance pouted. “Unless you want to gnaw on some burnt bacon.”
“Umm, no. Give it to Joey when he wakes up, he’ll eat anything.” His head slipped onto the table.
“Chris, if you’re that tired, go back to bed.”
“I’m not tired, I’m just sleepy.”
Lance rolled his eyes and threw his breakfast into the garbage. He looked in the direction’s of Justin’s bedroom and saw that his door was still tightly closed – a good sign that he was still asleep – before he quietly reached into the cupboard and removed a box of cereal. Chris’ eyes went wide when he saw what Lance was doing.
“Justin is going to kill you.”
“Only if he finds out.”
“Well then I’ll be your partner in crime...pour me a bowl.”
Lance raised an eyebrow.
“Please?” Chris smiled sheepishly.
“Fine.” Lance relented. “But I’m only doing because I need to talk to you about something.”
Chris quickly stood up and ran behind the couch. “If it’s about the rubber snake in your bunk last week, I swear I had nothing to do with it!”
“How did you know there was a rubber snake in my bunk, Chris?”
“I...umm...Joey told me.”
“Sure. I believe you Chris.” Lance placed the two bowls of cereal on the table, sat down and began to eat. Chris was still standing behind the couch and after a minute, Lance laid his spoon down and sighed. “I don’t care about the damn snake Chris, will you just come and eat your breakfast so I can bounce some ideas off of you? It’s going to get soggy.”
Chris stepped warily from his hiding position and cautiously approached the table. Lance rolled his eyes again and motioned for Chris to sit down.
“You’re just like a big kid sometimes, I swear.”
“That would be me.” He took an enthusiastic spoonful of the colorful loops and some milk dribbled down his chin. He then spoke with his mouth full. “So what did you want to talk about?”
“I can’t take you anywhere.” Lance threw a napkin at him and hesitated before he spoke. “I think...I think I’m through with Joey.”
Chris mouth fell open. “What? But I thought you...”
“We were happy Chris,” Lance sighed. “Were being the operative word. Do you know what time he rolled into bed this morning?”
Chris shook his head.
“Six am. The sun was already up and the birds had been singing for over an hour. And it marked another night that I spent alone without my boyfriend.”
“Lance, I...”
“And you know what Chris? It doesn’t even bother me as much as it did. I don’t know that it bothers me at all anymore. I think...I think I’ve fallen in love with someone else...I just didn’t realize it until this morning.”
Chris started shredding his napkin nervously. “W-Who?”
“Don’t worry, it’s not you.” Lance laughed. “I couldn’t even begin to compete with Shannon.”
Chris’ relief was evident.
“But it is someone in the group...it’s JC.”
Lay Your Hands On Me Index
Shades of Grey
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