“Joey,
trade buses with JC.”
“What
for?”
“Because
I need to talk to him without anyone else around.”
“It
can wait until we get to Toronto.” Joey said and folded another shirt, placing
it into his luggage.
“Come
on Joe, please? It’s important.” Lance
pleaded.
“I
don’t care, I have a very good reason for not wanting to switch buses.”
“Yeah? And that would be…”
“Chris
bought a new record yesterday.”
“Oh.”
Lance was silent for a moment while he weighed his options. He figured he would stick to begging. “Please Joey?”
Joey
let out an exasperated sigh and turned to look at Lance. “Fine!
But you are so going to owe
me!”
“Well
if it makes you feel any better, C will owe you too… for getting him away from
Chris and whatever he’s acquired this time.”
“Thanks.”
Joey scowled and threw the remainder of his clothes into his bag. He stalked out of the room, making sure he
slammed the door behind him.
“Where
are you going Joey?” Mike asked as Joey stormed by him.
“To
the buses!” He yelled. “Tell C he’s
riding with Lance!”
“Ya
gotta wait for one of us man.”
“Stuff
it!” Joey hollered and headed for the stairs instead of waiting for the
elevator.
“Someone
got up on the wrong side of the bed,” Eric snickered.
One
by one, the guys began to emerge from their rooms, with JC being the last one
out. He pressed the down button and
yawned. He closed his eyes while he
waited for the elevator and felt a tap on his shoulder.
“You’re
riding with Lance.” Lonnie told him gruffly.
“Since
when?”
“Since
Joey told us to tell you five minutes ago.
He didn’t seem too happy about it.”
JC
wasn’t too happy about it either. He
knew that Lance knew something was going on and he probably wanted the
scoop. But if he pretended to be
asleep…
“All
right. It will probably be quieter on
his bus anyway.”
**********
Lance
grinned as he watched JC walk toward the bus.
The driver opened the door for him and JC wearily climbed on, giving
Lance a brief smile as he made his way back to the bunks. He threw his stuff onto the bunk above him
and felt the bus begin to move almost immediately. He was officially stuck with Lance.
He
lay down on his bunk and just as he began to drift off to sleep, Lance slid the
curtain back and grinned at him. JC
groaned.
“Go
away Lance.”
“You
don’t want to talk to me?” Lance was still grinning.
“Not
particularly, no.”
“Can
I ask you something?”
“You
just did.” JC turned away from him,
hoping that Lance would take the hint.
“Jay-cee,”
Lance sang out. He was enjoying himself
immensely.
“Lance,
do you realize that you’re acting like Chris right now?”
Lance
giggled.
“You’re
obviously not going to leave me alone until you get whatever’s bothering you
off your chest. So say whatever it is
and then go away.”
“I
just want to know one thing. You don’t
have to answer it if you don’t want to.”
“Just
get on with it Lance,” JC groaned. He
wanted to get this over with. He felt
Lance lay a hand on his arm.
“You
followed your heart, didn’t you?”
JC
sat up. “Is it that obvious?”
“Well
no, you guys have been fairly discreet… especially since your room was
connected to hers. But what really
clued me in was when I saw you going into her room yesterday morning.”
“Oh.”
“Jace,
I just want to let you know that I don’t disapprove… I just want you to be
happy. God knows that after being
married to Alexandria, you deserve it.
You and Laurie have always had such a strong pull toward each other,
it’s no wonder you found each other again.”
“Alexandria
is going to hate me when she finds out.”
“Are
you planning on telling her?”
“Not
right away.”
“And
you love Laurie?”
“More
than anything.” It was practically a whisper.
“If she wasn’t married, I’d leave Alexandria in a heartbeat. Lance… Laurie is all I’ve ever needed. I feel complete when I’m with her.”
JC
looked at his friend and Lance could see the sincerity in his eyes.
“You
know I’ll help you anyway that I can.”
“Thanks
Lance.” JC yawned. “Can I go to sleep
now?”
“Aww…
did Laurie keep you awake last night?”
“Get
out.” JC growled. Lance was laughing as
he left.
**********
“Hey,
are you falling asleep on me?” Chris asked quietly and gave Michelle’s side a
light squeeze.
“Hmm? Oh sorry, I didn’t even realize it.”
“You
can’t be asleep when I play the record… it’s a rule.”
“Says
who?”
“Says
me. You have to be awake to protect
me.” He paused as she laughed. “Do you
think I should play it now?”
“I
don’t know hun, I don’t think Joey is in a very good mood.”
“It
was be good for him,” Chris patted her leg and stood up, making his way to his
bunk to get the record.
He
grinned at Justin on the way by and Justin grabbed the pillow closest to him,
burying his head under it. Joey glared
at Chris with eyes that dared Chris to piss him off. He wanted his own bunk and he wanted to sleep. He reached for his phone to call Denise, but
thought better of it when he saw Chris turn up the volume on the stereo even
before he dropped the needle.
“I
don’t think that pillow is going to help you much J,” Joey couldn’t help but
snicker.
“I
can try,” he replied defiantly.
Joey
stretched his legs out and closed his eyes.
The minute he felt his body begin to relax, there was audible static
coming through the speakers and Joey groaned.
Chris had dropped the needle.
The sound of… what the…?
“Sesame
Street?” Joey bellowed. “The hell,
Chris? How old are you?”
“It
was Michelle’s idea!” Chris yelled to be heard over the music. Michelle looked at him in shock.
“You
are such a liar! I just said I had the eight-track when I was younger…
I said nothing about wanting to buy it.
That was all your doing!”
Chris
laughed and ducked back into his bunk to retrieve something else from his
bag. He rummaged through it until he
found it, grinned sneakily and hid it behind his back. Joey and Michelle narrowed their eyes
suspiciously and Chris continued to grin.
As
the first song ended and the second one began, Chris showed Michelle what he
was hiding behind his back and her eyes filled with laughter. He kept it behind his back and sat down
beside Joey, who looked at him warily.
Chris rested his head on Joey’s shoulder and began to sing along. Justin peeked out from beneath his pillow
and began to laugh.
“Rubber
Ducky, you’re the one… you make bath time lots of fun… Rubber Ducky I’m awfully
fond of you… doo do doo do!” Chris sang loudly and moved his hand from behind
his back.
Justin
was laughing so hard that he nearly fell out of his chair. Chris was holding a little yellow rubber
duck and he squeezed it in front of Joey’s face, making it squeak. Then he continued to sing.
“Rubber
Ducky…”
“I’ll
‘Rubber Ducky’ you!” Joey growled and leapt off the couch. He turned on Chris and the older man gave a
little shriek as Joey started chasing him.
After
tearing around the bus, Joey finally caught up with Chris and threw him to the
sofa, tickling him unmercifully.
“Shelle…
Justin…” he panted trying to catch his breath between giggles. “H-Help!”
Justin
and Michelle shared a look of amusement between them and settled back to get
more comfortable.
“Nah…
watching you two is much more entertaining.” Justin grinned.
“Shelle…
please…” Chris begged. “You love me,
right?”
Michelle
rolled her eyes playfully. “Oh I
suppose…” She walked over to them and ran a single finger along Joey’s
spine. “I think that’s enough Joe.”
“Aww,”
he pouted but climbed off Chris. He
seemed to be in a better mood. “Come on
J, let’s go play with Chris’ playstation.”
“Don’t
touch my football game!” Chris yelled after them.
Michelle
laughed and sat down next to him and her fingers started to gently caress his
neck. “Are you done harassing your
friends now?”
“For
the time being,” he replied and closed his eyes.
“You
had a lot of nerve blaming the purchase of the record on me.” She gave his neck
a light squeeze and laughed softly. “Not that they believed you.”
“They
never do,” Chris sighed and winced in pain.
“Is
your neck bothering you?”
“Yeah,
a little,” he opened his eyes and looked at her. “Would you mind?”
“Nope,
scoot over.”
Chris
positioned himself between her legs and she began to massage his neck and
shoulders. He sighed with relief.
“Mmm…
we should fire Dale and hire you in his place.” He commented.
“Umm,
no.”
“Why not?”
“Because
then I would have to put up with you all the time,” she grinned. “And I don’t think you’d like the idea of
one of the other guys calling me up at two in the morning because they pulled a
groin muscle or something.”
“Oh
fine,” he pouted.
“You
wouldn’t want me around 24/7 anyway.
You’d never have time to flirt with all the teenies.” She teased.
“Hey,
who let you in on my secret?”
Michelle
just laughed and kissed his neck. They
were silent for a few minutes.
“I
have a really weird feeling that something is going on between JC and Laurie.”
“Ok,
that was random.”
“Think
about it Chris. They used to date, they
were heartbroken when they lost touch and now they’re spending time together
again.”
“You’re
imagining things dear.” He yawned.
“Really?”
She challenged. “You think so?”
“Yep.”
“Care
to make a little wager?” She asked slyly.
“What
kind of wager?”
“Umm…”
she thought for a minute. “If JC and
Laurie end up together, you have to be my slave for a day.”
“Ok,”
Chris agreed. “And if nothing happens –
because nothing is going on – then
you have to be my slave for the day.”
“Works
for me.”
“And,”
he continued. “To make it more fun, we
don’t tell anyone about the wager… deal?”
“Deal.”
Chris
turned around and kissed her.
**********
“Jace,”
Lance whispered just after they crossed the border. “Your accountant is on the phone.”
“Why
wouldn’t he call my cell?” He grumbled and took the phone from Lance. “Hey Bill, what’s up?”
“JC,”
Bill said in a serious voice. “You were
way over your spending budget for last month.”
“What
are you talking about? I hardly spent
any money last month except for Lance’s birthday because I was too busy
rehearsing eighteen hours a day. I
didn’t have time to spend any
money. How much is it over?”
“Almost
twenty thousand dollars.”
“WHAT?”
JC yelled and sat up so quickly that he fell off of his bunk.
“There’s
one bill here that’s just over ten thousand dollars alone.”
“From
where?” JC rubbed his temples. He was
getting a headache.
“Neiman
Marcus.”
Shit. Alexandria’s favorite store. JC’s headache suddenly became more intense.
“Bill? I’ll call you back.” JC hung up and dialed his house in Florida.
“Hello?”
“Dria.”
“Hey
sweetie, this is a nice surprise! How
are you?”
JC
closed his eyes and counted to ten to control his temper. “Dria, how much money did you spend last
month?”
“Oh
just a little bit, I needed some new clothes.”
“Twenty
thousand dollars worth? You have your
own money! And you have plenty of
clothes, what the hell do you need new ones for?”
“Why
should I spend my money, when I can spend yours?”
“What?”
JC hissed.
“Well
think about it JC, you make money faster than you can spend it… which you never
do, so it just sits there and…”
“Stop
spending my money!” JC yelled.
“But
JC…”
“I
mean it Dria. If you spend any more of my money, I will cancel all of your credit cards. Do you
understand me?”
“You’re
not serious,” Alexandria laughed.
“Try
me!” JC snapped and hung up the phone.