Seven 

 

"Chris? Sit here," JC said, patting the seat between himself and Justin.

Chris looked up and down the plane.  The other seat that was available to them was next to Lance, and he thought maybe he should sit there.  "Joey..." Lance waved Joey over. "Your seat's here."

"Cool!"  Joey beamed, shoving past Chris to get to Lance. Lance looked at Chris and smiled.  Chris sighed and stepped over JC's long legs to sit between JC and Justin.

"Hey," Chris said, quickly fastening his seatbelt and making sure it was tight.

"I love the window seat," Justin said enthusiastically, bouncing up and down a bit.

"I wanted to talk to you," JC said in a murmur.

"When we're about to take off is NOT the time to expect me to carry on a conversation, Jayce," Chris snapped.

"I thought it might distract you," JC said softly, and Chris took a good look at him.  JC's blue eyes were kind and concerned.

"Whatever. Talk."  Chris clutched at the armrests and stared at his knees.

"We're sorry, Chris," Justin said quietly. "We didn't mean to hurt you."

"I thought we agreed that I'D talk to him," JC said gently, and Justin nodded. He patted Chris' leg and looked back out the window.  "Chris, I never thought it would go this far...end up this way."

"WHAT way?" Chris asked.

"I'm...I'm in love with Justin. And he says he loves me," JC said in that same low murmur that only the three of them could hear. "So...I guess he and I are..."

"Exclusive," Chris finished.  "Duh, guys, like none of us saw it coming."

"WE didn't even see it coming," Justin insisted.

"Ask Lance.  He even noticed that you two are like two halves of a whole. No big deal."  Chris shrugged.

"You're saying that what we had didn't mean anything?" JC asked.

"Did it mean something to you?" Chris demanded, finally looking JC in the eye.

"It was great sex, and I know we never said it was more, but..."

"There ya go."

"Look, Chris, YOU'RE the one who insisted we do this with Justin." JC's tone was low but growing icy. "I was against it."

"And I see I didn't have to twist your arm much," Chris snapped. "You saw him naked and suddenly your dick did all the thinking."

"Guys, don't fight," Justin said helplessly. "I want us to be friends.  Chris, if I though you and JC were...well...boyfriends, I never woulda pushed this. I didn't want to mess anything up."

Chris looked at Justin and smiled. He couldn't help it.  Justin looked so young and sad, and he knew that Justin would never intentionally hurt anyone he cared about. "Don't worry about it, Curly.  We weren't boyfriends.  And I guess what hurt me was that you guys didn't even notice that I was gone."

Chris watched JC's face and got some satisfaction out of how red it turned. "I am really sorry," JC said.

"It's okay." Chris promised, squeezing JC's knee. "Now, let's just get through takeoff, then I'll go back and switch with Joey."

"You don't have to move," Justin said.

"I want to. I...need to," Chris said, and Justin didn't push it any further.

"That's fine, except we already took off," JC said with a small smile. "See? We talked you right through it."

"Cool," Chris said. He waited until the "fasten seatbelt" sign went off, then he got up.  "Joey. Go sit up front."

"But me and Lance..."

"Joey, I don't WANT to sit up there. I needed to talk to them about something. Please." Chris gave one of his rare stern and serious looks.

"Sure."  Joey gathered up his comic books and Walkman and got up.  Chris sat in his vacated seat.  He and Lance were on the side of the plane with only two seats per aisle.

"How are you?" Lance asked.

"How about YOU? I know you love flying as much as I do, plus you're sick." Chris fastened his seatbelt and looked at Lance. "You look like you have a bit more color."

"I feel better, thanks. I think being back in America can only help," Lance sighed.  He looked at Chris.  "You and them..."

"We talked. They're an item," Chris said with a laugh.

"Wow.  There's a mental picture," Lance said, and Chris had to laugh again. Somehow he had expected Lance to be more offended by the whole homosexual thing, though it was obvious that he had known about Chris and JC all along.  "Well, I guess it was to be expected."

"Yeah."

Lance put a hand on Chris' leg. "Not that it makes it any easier to deal with."

"Yeah," Chris said again, feeling incredibly sad.  Lance squeezed his leg and thankfully said nothing more.

 

Their free time in Florida flew by all too fast. Joey and Lance spent time together, as did JC and Justin, but Chris preferred to be on his own. He had a lot to think about. He hadn't expected to feel the loss of JC so strongly. He had honestly thought it was just a fling, but now he wasn't sure WHAT he felt. Maybe it was just the idea that he had been rejected in favor of Justin. Not that he could hate Justin for it...the kid was sixteen and didn't know his own charm.  And he couldn't hate JC. It wasn't JC's fault. So Chris decided to hate himself.

He was two days into hating himself when someone knocked on his door.  He was surprised to see Lance on the other side. "Hey!" Chris said, moving aside. He was the only one who had his own place at the moment, and it was a pigsty.

"Hey," Lance said, coming in. "I was worried. You didn't return anyone's calls."

"You know me...I have my moods," Chris said lightly. "Want a drink?"

"No, thanks," Lance said. He looked at Chris, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I need to tell you something."

"What's up?" Chris studied Lance, thinking he looked a lot younger than his eighteen years.

"This."  Lance bit his lip, then moved forward, pushing Chris against the wall.

"Lance! What the..." Chris' voice was muffled by Lance's mouth on his.  Lance's hands settled comfortably on Chris' waist, and Chris could only kiss Lance back. Lance's lips were tentative, his tongue shy, but he didn't break the kiss for a long time. "Holy hell!" Chris gasped, breaking away. "What was that?"

"I, I've wanted to do that for a while, but first, you know, you hated me, and then you were with JC. I tried not to like you, but I couldn't help it, and obviously you thought I was some sort of baby who didn't understand sex or what I wanted or anything, so I had to show you," Lance babbled.

"God!"  Chris wiped at his lips and stared at Lance. Suddenly Lance didn't look so young. "Where did you learn to pounce like that?"

"I always go after what I want," Lance said simply, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets. "I mean, I got in the group, didn't I?"

"Damn," Chris said weakly. He looked at Lance. "I never HATED you, first of all."

"Whatever," Lance said, but he grinned shyly. "And if you wanna punch me or whatever, go ahead, but I decided I had to do this while we're home. I feel stronger here."

"I, uh," Chris said, then stopped.  "Gimme a minute."

"Sure."  Lance leaned against the opposite wall. He suddenly seemed to lose his bravado, and he studied his shoes.

"Have you had sex with a guy, Lance?"

"No," came the quiet reply.

"Is that why you're doing this?"

"NO!"  Lance looked up sharply. "I mean, not that I don't want you that way. I mean, not that I didn't think of it.  Oh, heck," Lance said helplessly, rubbing at his neck again. "I like you as a person, Chris. Because you're crazy and wild, yet you take care of me when I'm sick. I've always admired and respected you, and it grew."

"I admire and respect you, too," Chris said, and it was true.  Lance had an intelligence and tenacity that he could only envy. "This is so sudden."

"Yeah, I guess."

"You busy tonight?" Chris asked, and Lance shook his head. "We'll go to a movie. And dinner."

"A date?" Lance asked, his beautiful eyes hopeful.

"Yeah," Chris said.  He shrugged, but he smiled. "A date."

"You paying?"

"As long as you're a cheap date," Chris teased back. Lance smiled.  Chris took a step towards him and gave him a chaste kiss.  He watched the flush creep up Lance's pale skin and smiled.

"I'm, uh, gonna go home. I'll be back around seven?"

"Sounds good," Chris said.  "Hey, can you look at my computer then? It's all screwed up."

"Did you use white-out on the monitor again?" Lance said, huffing a sigh.

"Shut up," Chris said, shoving him. "Can you?"

"Sure? What are friends for?" Lance said with a dramatic sigh. "I'll be here around six-thirty, then."

"Okay. See ya," Chris said. Lance gave him one more shy grin, then left.  Chris closed the door and leaned against it.  "What are friends for?" Chris repeated, then smiled.

The End

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