Two

 

                “DO something with him!”  Lance snapped. He undid his seatbelt and stomped down the aisle to the restroom.

                “What?” Justin asked innocently.

                “Justin, Lance really only has one good nerve, and you’re working on it!”  Chris growled. He got up and went to look after Lance.  Justin looked at JC and shrugged.

                “What did I do?”

                Even the perpetually patient JC was getting sick of Justin’s antics.  He was so excited about seeing Nick that he could hardly control himself.  He bounced from seat to seat in first class on the plane, talking to total strangers and generally making a fool of himself.  JC realized that nothing he could say would possibly make Justin calm down.  “You’re a little…hyper,” JC said.  “Even for Chris. Why don’t you come over here and sit next to me?  We only have twenty minutes or so until we land. If you behave, maybe Lance won’t kill you.”

                “Okay.”  Justin plopped into the seat next to JC.  “Jayce, what if he doesn’t love me anymore?”

                “Justin, you sound about six years old,” JC said in amusement.

                “We talk all the time, but we haven’t seen each other in over a month.”

                “After those first few months, it can only get better, right?” JC asked. “You guys are doing great with the little amount of time you get to spend together.  He still loves you.”

                “Right.”  Justin tapped his foot nervously. “Because I still love him, you know, and I’m not gonna let things like schedules or concerts or stick-up-their-ass bandmates like Lance and Kevin come between us.”

                “Good for you,” JC said, shaking his head and sighing.

                They landed at the airport that Justin had originally flown into, and a van was waiting for them.  “I’ll drive,” Lance announced, taking the keys from the rental car attendant.

                “No, you won’t.”  Justin deftly swiped them from Lance’s hand.  “I know where I’m going. You don’t.”

                “He’s right, babe,” Chris said to Lance. “C’mon. Let’s snuggle in the backseat.”  He took Lance’s hand and led him to the van.  “Plus this will give him something to do,” Chris whispered to Lance, who nodded.

                JC climbed in up front with Justin.  “You know they won’t be here until tonight, right?”

                “I know,” Justin sighed, starting the van.

                 

 

                “The middle of the night…is he gonna be by your side…or will he run and hide…you don’t know cuz things ain’t clear…and baby when you cry…is he gonna stand by your side…does the man even know you’re alive?”  Nick sang as he walked across the deck of his boat.  “If you were my boyfriend…”

                “I DON’T think that’s exactly the lyric,” AJ observed, grinning up at Nick from his seat on a deck chair.  “Are we there yet?”

                “A few more hours,” Nick told him. He sighed happily as the wind blew through his hair. “I can’t believe I’ll see him in a few hours!  And early, too. He’ll be so surprised!”

                “Let’s hope it’s a good surprise,” Brian said.  He and Leighanne weren’t leaving for Europe for three days, so he had decided to come along for the beginning of the vacation.  Howie would join them a few days later.

                “I hope so, too,” Nick said, sighing.

                “Nickolas, don’t start,” AJ snapped. “He is just as excited as you are, I can guarantee that.  You two are made for each other.”

                “Right, right, I know you’re right,” Nick sighed.  He ran a hand through his hair and went to sit down.

 

 

                “Man, you done good, Curly,” Chris observed, flopping onto the living room sofa in a pair of sweatpants and an old tshirt.  “This place is perfect!”  It was the largest rental house on the beach.

                “I know. I left specific instructions with the rental people,” Justin said. He held out the bowl of popcorn and Chris took a handful.  “The place had to be ready for us to sleep whenever we wanted, and eat whenever we wanted.”

                “I’LL say. That refrigerator is stocked with everything we could possibly want.”  JC came into the room carrying cans of soda.  He heard a noise at the front door and went to open it.  He was shocked to see Nick Carter, Brian Littrell, and AJ McLean on the front porch.  Nick made a ‘keep quiet’ motion, and JC nodded, closing the door.  “Justin?  Could you do me a favor?” JC asked, going back into the living room.  He handed out the sodas and pouted. “I left my notebook in the car.”

                “You have legs,” Justin pointed out.

                “But I don’t have shoes on, and your feet are already like leather, anyway,” JC said. “Please?”

                JC so rarely asked for ANYTHING that Justin sighed. “Okay, Jayce.”  Justin got up from his seat and went to the door.  He opened it and almost screamed.  “Hey!”  He said happily, and Nick suddenly had a hugging mass of Justin in his arms.

                “Hey, yourself,” Nick said.  He hugged Justin tightly, kissing his curls.  Justin pulled back and they tenderly kissed.

                “Um, can we get in, please?” Brian asked.  Nick and Justin shuffled to the side, still kissing.  AJ and Brian entered the house.

                “Hi, AJ, hi, Brian,” Chris said, waving from his place on the sofa.

                “Hey, Kirkpatrick,” AJ said. He smiled at JC.  “Hi, JC.”

                “AJ…Brian…” JC said shyly. “I’ll, uh, go get Lance.”  JC took the steps two at a time.  Brian looked at Chris questioningly.

                “I know…he’s shy,” Chris said, rolling his eyes. “I don’t quite get why…he’s known you guys for how long now?  But if he doesn’t really know people well, he freezes up.”

                Lance and JC soon came back downstairs.  “Hi, Brian, AJ,” Lance said, giving a half-handshake half-hug to each of them. “Where’s Nick?”

                “He and your boy are out on the porch in a liplock,” AJ informed him.  “Where can we drop our gear?”

                “Oh, sorry!”  Chris jumped up and grabbed one of AJ’s bags.  “Upstairs.”  They all went back up.  “There’s kinda two wings to the upstairs…we figured the couples could stay on one side, and you lonely losers on the other.”

                “Thanks a lot, Chris,” JC muttered.

                “I’ll crash in here,” Brian said, poking his head into one of the back bedrooms. “It’s the smallest, and I’ll only be here a few days.”

                “Ooh, I’ll take this one,” AJ said, looking at a bedroom decorated in black and red.  Chris and JC looked at each other and laughed.

                “We figured as much, which was why JC took the one next to you,” Chris said.  “Get yourselves settled in. We’ll try to separate the horny boys for five minutes.”  He and Lance bounced down the steps.

                “I’m glad you’re here,” JC said, looking from Brian to AJ.  “I wanted to come, but it woulda felt weird being with the four of them, you know?”

                “I know,” AJ said.  “Hearing all about it is bad enough. But seeing it?”

                “You guys are lucky,” JC told him.  “You only have one. I have to deal with Justin, as well as watch Lance and Chris get all google-eyed over each other.”

                “My sympathies,” AJ said, clapping JC on the back.  “I’m gonna unpack.”

                “Thanks for having us, by the way,” Brian said to JC.

                “Sure,” JC said in surprise.  “Why not?”

 

 

                “You look taller,” Justin whispered to Nick, snuggling up against his neck.

                “Hardly,” Nick said. “Maybe you’re shrinking.”

                “Doubtful.”  Justin closed his eyes and inhaled.  “This vacation is gonna be great.”

                “Definitely,” Nick agreed.

                “Can you guys PLEASE quit groping each other for five minutes?” Chris called.

                “How much would you hate me if I killed him?” Nick asked.

                “I wouldn’t hate you at all,” Justin said, but they went back into the house.

 

Three