Twenty-Two

THE PRESENT

JC shivered as he rubbed his hands together. They were wet and cold. It was then he realized that he had been crying, the tears falling down onto his hands as he typed. He smiled through his tears and hit save on his computer. He sat back and stared at the monitor for a long moment. Even after two months, the memories were enough to shock him back to the exact time and place. 

Justin had made a strange gasp for breath, a sound that JC would never forget…a sound that would haunt his nightmares for weeks. He fell back into JC's arms, and JC carefully cradled him as he fell to the ground. “Justin…oh, baby…that was entirely stupid!” JC babbled, running a hand through Justin's curls. Justin's eyes never left JC's face.

“He would have…killed you…”

“Shh…” JC whispered. He looked at Justin's chest. Blood streamed from a wound that looked dangerously near to Justin's heart. “Hold on, baby.” JC looked around helplessly.

Lance slowly lowered the gun, shock filling his green eyes. “Justin…I…you weren't supposed…”

“You fucking bastard.” Nick launched himself at Lance, tackling him to the ground. “You were going to kill JC!” He grabbed Lance and shook him, Lance's head bouncing off the floor of the stage.

“Nick, stop. Stop!” AJ yelled, grabbing Nick. Nick finally released Lance, who lay unconscious on the floor.

“We need a doctor,” JC said. “A doctor!” He yelled a bit louder as everyone stood and gawked.

“You need to get out of here, JC,” Christopher said gently. “If the cops come…”

“I can't leave him,” JC said, looking down at Justin.

“Go,” Justin said weakly, growing paler by the second.

“Out of my way,” a voice said. “I'm a doctor.” A short man with bright blue eyes knelt by Justin. “Hi there. Can you tell me your name?”

“Justin…Timberlake…”

“You were amazing up there, Justin. I enjoyed your show. My name is Doctor Littrell…I'm gonna take a look at you, okay?” The doctor said, and Justin weakly nodded.

“Is he gonna be okay?” JC asked.

“JC, you need to go,” Christopher said. JC ignored him.

“He's losing a lot of blood…I can't tell how close this is to his heart,” Dr. Littrell said. “He needs to go to a hospital.”

“No…” Justin whispered. “No insurance…Josh, please go. I love you. I don't want you hurt.”

“I'll pay for the hospital,” JC said. “I have money.”

“Josh…” Justin tried to protest.

“We need a decision,” the doctor said. “I think we should call an ambulance.”

“No,” Nick said. “It's too dangerous for JC.”

“Staying here is too dangerous for Justin!” JC snapped.

“I have an idea,” Christopher said finally. “Can we move him?” He asked the doctor.

“Carefully,” the doctor replied.

“Hold on, baby,” JC whispered, looking down into Justin's eyes. “Hold on…for me…okay?”

“For you…” Justin whispered before passing out. 

JC rubbed his eyes as he shut the computer down. He knew this would make the novel of the century, but he didn't know if he could manage to put his life out for the rest of the world to read. It was dangerous, number one, because he was all but living in secrecy. Even though he had moved far away, to a quiet shore town in Georgia, there was always a chance. He knew that if Kevin really wanted to, he could find JC. But so far, no one had tried.

“Hey,” a voice said behind him. Gentle hands rubbed at his shoulders. “Are you crying?”

“Uh, yeah,” JC said, laughing with embarrassment.

“You were writing about us again, weren't you?” Justin spun JC's chair around to face him and knelt in front of him. His thumbs wiped JC's tears away.

“Yeah,” JC replied.

“You know that always upsets you,” Justin said in a scolding tone.

“Hey…true love sells. You've seen all the romance novels at the bookstore,” JC said. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine. When will you stop asking me that?” Justin asked. He stood and walked over to sit on a sofa. JC followed and carefully pulled Justin into his arms.

“When I stop loving you, which will be…oh…never,” JC teased, kissing Justin's forehead.

“About those romance novels…they're full of sex, too.”

“This story has good sex in it…doesn't it?” JC frowned when Justin didn't immediately reply. “DOESN'T it?”

“Of course.” Justin gently poked JC in the ribs. “Do those stories have all this drama?”

“Usually,” JC said, thinking back to the train ride that seemed eternally long. Somehow, Christopher, Nick, AJ and Dr. Littrell had gotten Justin out of the theater and into a car. They drove to the train station and hopped the first train out, with Dr. Littrell actually traveling the first length of the trip by Justin's side. They had stopped at the first town with a decent hospital, according to the doctor, and the bullet was removed. It was above Justin's heart, though close enough to practically give JC a seizure when he learned about it.

“I was reading the paper,” Justin said softly. “There was an article about Lance Bass.”

“Really?” JC's embrace tightened and Justin winced. Sometimes he thought JC would kill Lance if ever given the chance.

“Yes…something about how he's fully recovered from the concussion he received while skiing, or something,” Justin said.

“Skiing?” JC said, laughing. The events at the theater had been covered up as much as possible. Joseph wanted no negative press, and either did Lance Bass. The disappearance of his star, however, gave Joseph's theater a mysterious air that drew people in. “And it took him two months to recover?”

“At a spa in Europe,” Justin told him, and they giggled some more. “Said something about him getting engaged.”

“Yeah, right,” JC snorted. “What a big queen.” They laughed again.

“You saved my life,” Justin said softly. JC sighed. This was a conversation they had often.

“I think I remember you taking a bullet for me.”

“It wasn't for you…it was for true love,” Justin gently corrected him. He turned his face up and JC kissed him.

The End

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