Fourteen
1998
“I have an
idea,” Lance said, jogging down the hallway to the playroom. “Justin?”
He went through the open doorway. “Oh. Sorry.”
“No problem. I was just showing Brit here how to play the piano,”
Justin said, leaning back on the piano bench.
They had a small playroom at every venue, and JC made sure there was
some sort of piano or keyboard at his beck and call.
“And I’m totally clueless on it!”
She said with a giggle. “I think I better stick to song and dance.”
“Maybe so,” Justin said, and she giggled again, shoving him.
“Oh, Lance, how do you put up with him?”
“It’s a hardship,” Lance said, trying to smile. “I’ll catch you
later, Justin.”
“Is something wrong?” Justin asked, concerned.
“Nah. Just needed to talk to ya. I’ll get ya later.” Lance turned on one heel and went back
towards the arena. The musicians were
beginning to warm up a bit, and he decided to take a stroll around the seats.
Britney Spears was on tour with them as an opening act. JC and Justin both knew her from the Mickey
Mouse Club, of course, and everyone adored her. She was cute and funny, and
could actually dance, though her singing left something to be desired. Chris loved to make her giggle, which she
did often. Joey flirted with her, and
JC danced with her. Only Lance seemed
to be above her charms. Justin, of
course, spent every waking moment with her. It was nice for him to be with
someone near his own age. Lance, of course, wished that she could have been a
BOY near Justin’s age, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Lance climbed some steps and began to walk up and down the aisles,
tapping the tops of chairs as he went.
He and Justin still had a relationship, if you wanted to call it
that. They talked, they hung out, and
they did things. Things that were done
in the heat of the dark, with warm hands and slick tongues and all kinds of
moaning. It had gone on that way for
the last two years. Justin still
proclaimed that he wasn’t gay, that he didn’t like men. But he had NO problem
hooking up with Lance on a regular basis.
Lance knew it was wrong for them both. It would only confuse Justin to continue, and it was not healthy
for Lance at all. It was just so convenient, though. Justin was there, ready and eager. For Lance it was more than that, though Justin would never EVER
know this. JC had even stopped talking
to Lance about it, because Lance had become silent on the whole matter. If Justin wanted to flirt with little
dancing girls, that was fine with him. It was only sex for Lance.
Absolutely. Only sex…though they hadn’t
exactly HAD sex, not yet. It was something that Lance had waited for. He hadn’t
done anything with anyone but Justin in all that time, and now Justin was going
on eighteen. Part of Lance wanted to
proposition Justin, ask him to do this special act. But he felt as if he were using Justin, when all Justin was doing
was having a good time. He was
confused, and there was no one he could talk to about it.
“Lance!” Justin called, taking the steps two at a time. His long legs easily cleared the distance.
“Are you okay?”
“I said I was fine, Justin,” Lance said patiently. Ever since that night long ago when Justin
had gotten drunk and said those things about Lance, Justin had been extra
careful about how he treated Lance. He always worried about Lance, if he was
okay or mad or upset. “I didn’t mean to
interrupt you.”
“It’s okay. We were just fooling around.” Lance raised an eyebrow. “Not like THAT,”
Justin said, blushing. “She doesn’t…I mean…”
“Oh…you would KNOW, then?” Lance tried to tease.
“No! You know that! I
just…uh…hear stuff. And she told me that, once. I think…she may like me.”
“Duh, Justin,” Lance said.
“It’s no big secret. Do you like her?”
“She’s not why I came after you,” Justin said, dismissing the
subject. “I wanted to know what was up.”
“I was just thinking about your birthday. We actually have the
weekend off after your birthday…and I thought we could go away.”
“Go away? You and me?” Justin gasped.
“Yeah. Nowhere special…maybe just to Miami for the weekend. I have
some savings…”
“That would be so cool…like grownups or something,” Justin said, smiling. Eighteen was a very big deal to him, though
Joey and Chris still called him The Infant.
“Yeah,” Lance said. He
closed his eyes for a moment and rubbed at his eyes.
“Are you SURE you’re okay? You look tired,” Justin said.
“I am. I was looking over some money stuff…you’d be bored,” Lance
told him. They still shared rooms in
the hotels, but the hotels were a little nicer now that they were getting
somewhere. Lance and Justin didn’t
share ALL the time, but they made sure to as often as possible.
“Money stuff?” Justin wrinkled his nose.
“Don’t worry about it,” Lance said, and Justin didn’t have
to. Lance was worried enough for all
five of them. “So…I should set it up?”
“Yeah…that’d be great.”
Justin beamed at him. “Happy
birthday to me!”
“Let’s hope so,” Lance murmured to himself with a sigh as Justin
bounced back down the stairs.
