Six 

 

“C'mon, AJ, let me use it!” Nick whined.

“Junior, is it my fault you left your damn laptop at home?” AJ growled.

“AJ, can't you even go away for a hundred hours and not get your cybersex?” Howie said sleepily from the sofa.

“Shut up, D,” AJ snapped. “Fine,” he sighed. “We'll let the baby get his cybersex.” AJ signed off and almost threw the laptop onto Nick's lap. “Here. I need some sleep, anyway.”

“Thank you.” Nick retreated into a corner of the huge jet and logged on. He smiled when he saw an email from Justin. 

TO: OrlandoBlueEyes@hotmail.com

FROM: TennesseeCurly@aol.com 

Nick, 

Did you ever have one of those days when everything in your life goes wrong? I'm having that kind of LIFE right now. Bitch-of-the-Week JC has decided that maybe he doesn't WANT to do another album. Maybe NSA was enough for him. Maybe he wants to just write and produce and drink his fucking wine and paint his fucking art. That's fine with me. And there's so much other shit…God, Nick, I envy you. You're doing your thing, but you're far away from all the bullshit. I hate my fucking life. 

Justin 

 

Nick sighed and closed his eyes. Justin had never sounded like this, and it sucked that he couldn't be there for him. Cellphone usage was impossible on the plane, and they weren't anywhere long enough for him to call…and the time difference was too difficult to navigate. This special tour to start off their Black and Blue album had been a great idea on paper, but in reality it was a living hell. 

TO: TennesseeCurly@aol.com

FROM: OrlandoBlueEyes@hotmail.com 

J, 

Dude, trust me. U ain't the only one that got it bad, dog. Have you ever tried to sleep next to Kevin? He snores like a freakin freight train. And he's a bigger dad than ever now…making sure everything runs as smooth as possible. He's a dickhead, actually. I'll be SO glad to get away from him and the others. Even Brian. And Kevin thinks he's such a bigshot because they let him fly the damn plane. Woofuckinghoo. 

Mebbe we can get together after I'm back and sleep for fifteen kazillion hours. Mebbe you could call Britney…can't she give you some stress release? <<big grin>> 

N 

 

Justin read the email from Nick and couldn't help but smile. He loved his bandmates, but spending a hundred hours with them, most of it in close quarters on a jumbo jet, would drive him crazy. He just knew Nick would make him smile, which is why he had even opened up to Nick in the first place. It was nice sometimes to have someone you could talk to about this kind of thing, but yet the person was outside your own little camp. God knows he couldn't talk to Britney about it…the problem that was the base for everything else was something she definitely would NOT understand. And his best friend, Chris…well…he was too damn supportive of every one of them to take his side. And his supposed best friend, JC…hah. What a laugh.

Justin closed down his computer and leaned back in his chair. He was glad that Nick was doing something exciting, starting off the new CD with a bang…but he'd give anything to see him. 

“Oh, GOD, why are you making me get up?” Justin groaned, rolling himself off the sofa. He had eaten the best Thanksgiving dinner EVER at his mother's earlier that day, and now all he wanted to do was curl up and nap. He walked to the door, looking through the peephole. “Hey!” Justin threw the door open.

“Happy Thanksgiving!” Nick beamed at Justin.

“But you're…you're away!” Justin said, shocked.

“No, I'm here. Is this a bad thing?” Nick looked worried. He glanced over Justin's shoulder, wondering if Britney was in the other room.

“No! Man, it's great!” Justin pulled Nick into his house and hugged him. “Damn, it's great to see you. I just…I thought you'd still be resting up after that trip.”

“That was days ago, man. I'm okay now. I just couldn't handle being with my family right now. I went over and ate a bit, saw my brother and sisters, then bailed. How about you?”

“I ate the biggest dinner of my life, and now I'm vegging like the slob that I am,” Justin said. He turned off the TV and flopped back down on the sofa. “Have a seat.”

“I hope you don't mind me just showing up…I wanted to surprise you.”

“You did just that,” Justin said, smiling at Nick. “So…tell me about the trip. I know the bits that you told me in emails…”

“Oh! I brought you something!” Nick held out the small bag he had been carrying. “Silly, I know…but it has some irony to it.”

Justin opened the bag and grinned. “Man, this is cute.” He took out the small stuffed kangaroo.

“I got it in the airport in Australia. It's named Joey. I thought, you know, if you ever got all pissed off again, you could look at it and…I dunno. It's girlie and retarded, I guess.” Nick blushed.

“Nah, man, it's adorable. I love it. Thanks.” Justin carefully sat it on his coffee table.

“I was worried about you, ya know,” Nick said. “You were sounding, like, suicidal.”

“I know.” Justin ran a hand through his curls. “I just…everything fell apart there for a while.”

“Is JC gonna do your next album.”

“Yes, thank God. I'm not ready for NSYNC to die yet,” Justin said. “It wasn't just that, though.” Justin bit at a fingernail.

“J, what's up, dude? You're talking in code,” Nick said. “We've been friends for a while now. Nothing you can say or do can freak me out and make me run.”

“Lance and JC hooked up!” Justin blurted. Nick blinked. Justin blushed. “Okay, you're like the enemy, technically, so if you leak this anywhere I swear to God you'll be singing falsetto forever.”

“I won't tell anyone, Justin,” Nick said almost angrily.

“I know. Sorry.” Justin smiled apologetically. “So, anyway, they just kinda let it slip. Like, hey, we've been fucking like bunnies for over a year and now we're an item, please pass the salt.”

Nick chuckled. “That must've been Lance.”

“Yeah,” Justin said, smiling. “JC would have been like all careful, like, I don't want anything to change but there's an important development that involves the group, or something weird. So anyway, yeah. There we were at dinner, and Lance lets it loose. Joey almost choked on his chicken.”

“And this upsets you?” Nick asked slowly.

“Not like you think. Man, I want them happy. I love them both, and it's so damn hard to find something special in our world. But, shit, Nick…” Justin stood up and paced. “Remember when you joked once about me and Lance?” Nick nodded. “Lance and I made out once. More than once…like a lot for like three months during Europe and after.” Nick's mouth fell open. “We were both like, curious, and we were always together. Then we realized it wasn't what we wanted…but Lance is still gay. I knew that. It…I guess I was jealous.” Justin gave a small smile. “Yeah, I'm not a spoiled diva or anything…here I am with a hot girlfriend, but Lance is supposed to stay celibate in memory of a few months when we were horny teenagers?”

“It's okay, Justin,” Nick said. “You're allowed to feel that way.”

“I'm better now. I just felt…betrayed. And now you know why I could never tell Britney that. She wouldn't get it. She's too perfect and prudish,” Justin said, frowning.

“Hey…wanna take a walk or something?” Nick said, needing fresh air. “No one will be expecting us to be out and about on Thanksgiving.”

“Yeah,” Justin said, stretching. “I need to walk this food off.” He smiled. “Thanks, Nick. I knew you'd understand.”

“No problem,” Nick said, standing up as well.

Seven