Duet

By: Lara

Britney and Justin HAD to do a duet. They just had to. It was PERFECT. And Chris was damn proud of himself for thinking of it.

Everyone knew that as soon as a celebrity couple did some kind of work together, their relationship fell apart. How many relationships had Gwyneth Paltrow been through, because she dated her leading man? And how long did Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson REALLY last after their song together? It just didn’t mesh well, work and play…and all Chris had to do was get Justin to do the duet, and then he and Britney would break up. Of course, there was still the little problem of Justin being straight and all, but Chris would work on him. Every man wanted to experiment…Justin just had to want to “take it to the next level.”

So Chris got to work.

“Hey, J?” Chris ambled into the living room of the bus and flopped down.

“Hmm?” Justin didn’t look up from the Playboy he was reading. “Hey, look. There’s Christina Aguilera at the Playboy Mansion!”

“Did you ever think about doing a duet with Britney?” Chris asked. Joey glanced up from the TV show he was watching.

Justin finally looked up. “Chris, I know you didn’t really enjoy her CD, but did you miss the last song? We already did a duet.”

“That was hardly a duet, Justin.” Chris sat down next to Justin. “You wrote the song, beat-boxed, and did back-up singing for her. I mean, like a REAL duet. Like what Jessica and that Lachey guy did.”

“Hmm…”

“You could write a fantastic song and spend all kinds of time together to work on it.”

“Yeah. Yeah.” Justin closed the magazine. “I’m feeling inspired already. Thanks, Chris.”

“No problem,” Chris said cheerfully, watching Justin walk away.

“What was that all about?” Joey asked Chris. Chris shrugged.

“Nothing. Just an idea.” Chris lay back on the sofa, a lazy grin covering his face.

There was only one problem. Justin didn’t write the song. Chris had suggested that Justin write the song because he knew that Justin wasn’t all that good at the sappy love songs. So not only would the duet go bad, the song wouldn’t be that good anyway. And they would probably argue over it, and it just would speed things along in the long run. Chris couldn’t see Justin writing another “Gone” to use as a duet. Justin obviously came to this realization as well, and he did the one thing Chris had dreaded. He went to JC.

JC could do wonders with a sappy love song. JC seemed to have sap and love and goo-goo eyes coming out of his ears. JC would come up with romantic lyrics and sing them with commercial jingles. It got annoying sometimes.

They were all sitting around on the stage, waiting for some kind of technical difficulty to be resolved, when Justin approached JC. “Hey, Jayce, Chris had this idea…”

“Don’t bring me into this,” Chris groaned quietly. Joey looked at him sharply.

“About me and Brit doing a love song together. And I can’t write it the way it should be…do you have anything?”

“Yeah…I do…actually,” JC gave a shy grin. “However, I don’t have it QUITE finished yet. But…” JC looked over at Chris and smiled. “I have a new song that ISN’T a love song…but it’s a duet between two men. I wrote it for you and Chris to sing leads on.”

“Me?” Chris squeaked. JC laughed.

“Yeah, you. It works really good for two high voices. I thought it was perfect.” JC grabbed a roll of sheet music from his bag. “Look this over.” He handed the sheets around and disappeared offstage.

“Damn. That boy is like a walking music library,” Lance commented, looking over his music. “And this is good.”

“Of course it is,” Chris said with a sigh. And if JC came up with something this good for Justin and Britney to sing, he was screwed.

JC didn’t have time to work on Britney and Justin’s song while they were on tour, but he quickly got Chris and Justin involved in learning this new song. “Maybe we could throw it into the show during the last stop on the tour!” JC said enthusiastically. Joey smiled.

“Yeah, we could.”

Chris scowled at him. Lance and Joey had the easy parts. He and Justin had to weave their voices through a complex verse that left Chris totally confused. He missed his cue and had to start over. “Are you paying attention?” Justin snapped.

“Hello, this is the fourth time I’ve seen the damn thing. Relax, Fro-Boy,” Chris growled back. Justin actually pouted, and Chris’ heart melted. “I’m ready this time.”

They began to sing, their voices blending well together. “Wait,” Justin said, and JC stopped playing his keyboard. “Don’t you think we should change keys there?”

“Change where? Change UP?” Chris’ voice rose. “Are you trying to kill me? You’re still an octave below me. Going up any higher would be painful.”

“Sorry,” Justin said sullenly, and Chris sighed.

“I’m sorry, Justin.” He looked at the face he loved. “Let’s try it again.”

“So…how’s that song coming?” Chris asked Justin one day as they got together in the back of the bus to go over JC’s song.

“What song? The song for me and Brit?” Justin scratched his head. “Uh…JC hasn’t finished it yet. He said he wants it to be so perfect that he can’t just write it…it has to inspire him.”

“God…that sounds about right.” Chris rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you just go ahead and try to write one? You’re a good writer, Justin, and JC’s all about the music. If yours is better than his…he’ll be cool with it.”

“Yeah…yeah, you’re right.” Justin flashed his bright smile and hugged Chris. “You’re the best, man. Always looking out for me.”

Chris closed his eyes and enjoyed the hug, a blissful smile on his face. When he opened his eyes, Joey was staring at him.

“You’re evil.”

“What?” Chris asked Joey, not looking away from the Playstation. Justin was in the shower.

“You want Justin, so you’re trying to make Justin and Britney break up.” Joey pushed pause on the game. Chris unpaused it.

“Of course I want Justin. Any smart gay male wants Justin. But he loves Britney.”

Joey paused the game. “Exactly. And if you really cared about him, you’d leave him alone.”

Chris unpaused again. “Joey, I’m not doing anything.”

“Chris, everyone knows that as soon as two people work together, any kind of relationship between them falls apart. And I…” Joey stopped suddenly and Chris looked at him. “Never mind. You go ahead with your little plan.” Joey got up and walked back to his bunk

“I’m not DOING anything!” Chris protested, but he couldn’t help but smile. Joey knew it, too.

“Forget it. Forget it forget it forget it.” Justin came storming out of JC’s hotel room. “I can’t sing this with him if he’s not going to pay attention!”

“Me? At least I can count to four, idiot!” Chris yelled after him.

“Guys, c’mon…you’re acting like children,” JC said helplessly.

“He IS a child. Fucking brat.”

“At least I’m not an old man who should have stopped this shit a LONG time ago,” Justin said sweetly. Chris tackled him in the hallway.

“Jesus, he’s actually punching him!” Joey said as he walked out of his room. “Chris! Back off, man!” Joey grabbed Chris around the waist.

“Holy fuck, I think you broke my nose!” Chris put a hand up to his nose and stared at the blood on his fingers.

“That’s what you get for fucking punching me in the ribs, asshole!” Justin yelled.

“Take him.” Joey pushed Chris onto JC and went to console Justin. JC led Chris into his room, closing the door behind him.

“Sit down.” JC shoved Chris onto the edge of the bed and went to wet a washcloth.

“Damn baby,” Chris muttered, lightly touching his nose.

“This will hurt, but I gotta clean the blood up.” JC began to tenderly dab at Chris’ nose. “It doesn’t look broken.”

“Good…or he’d have a broken head when I got done with him.”

“Justin already does,” JC said with a smile. “What got into you two?”

“We were just working on the song, you know…and it got out of hand or something.” Chris winced. “Careful.”

“Sorry.” JC’s soft fingers were gentle as he touched Chris’ nose and face. It was strangely relaxing. “You know, maybe you two shouldn’t work on this song after all.”

“Why? It’s a great song, JC.”

“Haven’t you ever noticed that when two people who are in any kind of relationship work together, the relationship falls apart?” JC asked softly.

“Sure. It happens all the time. That’s why…” Chris snapped his mouth shut.

“That’s why I gave you two this song to work on,” JC said softly.

“You wanted us to fight?” Chris asked, his mouth dropping open.

“You look okay. Why don’t you go to your room and shower?” JC said, stepping back. “I’ll see you later.”

“Okay.” Chris left the room in confusion.

He went to bang on Joey’s door. Joey glared at him. “Here to beat up Justin?”

“No. Is he here? I need to talk to you.”

“No…he went to his own room.” Joey let Chris in. “What’s up?”

“JC wrote the song for me and Justin to sing so we’d fight and I don’t get it,” Chris said in one breath. Joey smiled.

“Wow. I didn’t even see that one coming, and I’ve known all along.”

“What are you talking about?” Chris almost screamed.

“Remember what we said? That when two people work together, their relationship falters? Chris, JC knows you want Justin. He’s known for a while. It’s killed him, but he’s kept quiet about it. Until now.”

“You mean…JC wants Justin, too?”

Joey sighed. “No, dumbass. JC wants YOU.”

“Me?” Chris sat down hard. “But…he’s JC. He’s all soft…and artsy…and pretty. Did you notice how pretty he is?”

“I try not to noticed those things about my male friends, Chris,” Joey teased gently, sitting next to Chris on the bed. “But you thought you could get Justin? Why not JC, who obviously cares about you.”

“Yeah,” Chris whispered, thinking back to the many unselfish things JC did for him on a daily basis.

“I still can’t believe he pulled the duet trick on you, though.” Joey shook his head.

“JC used my own plan against me,” Chris said, smiling slightly.

TWO MONTHS LATER

“Okay, Brit, that’s good. Take five you guys.” JC sat back from the soundboard. “Man, this song is great.”

“It IS great, JC. Your song is awesome,” Chris agreed. He looked over at Joey and Lance.

“Uh, I’m gonna get something to drink. Guys?” Joey stood.

“I’m good,” JC said.

“I’ll come with you,” Lance said as Chris shook his head.

“I think this may be the best work she’s ever done,” JC said, motioning to Britney as she giggled at something Justin said.

“And they’re only getting closer now,” Chris observed. JC shot him a curious look.

“You okay with that?”

“Yeah.” Chris took a deep breath. For two months he had been watching JC, trying to sort out his own feelings. He didn’t want to fall for JC just because JC had wanted him first. “Jayce…would you like to go out tonight?”

“I thought we were…”

“No. With me. On…a…date.”

“What?” JC whispered, fear entering his blue eyes. “Chris, if this is some kind of joke…”

“No…no joke. I want to take you out to dinner. Okay?”

“Uh…” A beautiful smile crossed JC’s face, and Chris could only think “pretty.”

“Say yes.”

“Yes,” JC said immediately, and Chris grinned.

“But promise me one thing.” Chris picked up JC’s hand and played with his long fingers.

“Anything.”

“You never write a duet for us.”

The End

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