Twelve

Justin reached over, determined to stop the annoying sound that was ringing in his ears. “Hello?” He said groggily.

“Lance?”

“No, he's…” Justin opened one eye and looked at the clock. Six pm. He and Lance had slept the afternoon away. He rolled over, looked at the empty side of the bed, and realized the shower was running. “He's in the shower, Chris.”

“Okay, well, I'll call back later.”

“Okay.” Justin hung up the phone and put his head under the pillow. At the same moment that he yanked the pillow from his head, the phone rang again.

“Curly?”

“Chris?” Justin screamed, sitting up. “Oh, man, I never thought I'd be so happy to hear your voice!”

“What the hell happened?”

“I don't know…I was asleep, and now I'm awake, and I can hear!” Justin didn't feel the need to explain to Chris about what had happened BEFORE he fell asleep.

“Justin…man…” Chris, for once, was speechless.

“I know. I'll call you later. I have to go…hear.” Justin hung up and threw the phone down. “Lance!” Justin ran into the bathroom, ignoring the slight pain that reminded him of everything that had happened earlier. “Lance!”

“Are you okay?” Lance opened the shower door. Justin jumped in with him. “Justin…”

“I can hear, Lance!” Justin smiled happily. “Chris called and I heard the phone and I heard his voice and I hear this shower and I hear you!”

“You can hear?” Lance's mouth fell open.

“Yes.” Justin grabbed Lance and hugged him, kissing his shoulder. “I can hear! I gotta go. I'll call you later…because I can!” Justin darted back out of the shower and ran to get dressed, not even bothering to dry himself off. Lance didn't follow him.

“So what exactly happened?” JC demanded as soon as he, Joey and Chris entered Lance's house. “Where's Justin?”

“I don't know.” Lance sat on the sofa and stared at his coffee table. “He flew outta here and I haven't heard from him since.”

“He just woke up and could hear?” Joey asked.

“I guess so. I was in the shower when he woke up.”

“Why was he sleeping at six in the evening?” Chris wanted to know. Lance blushed and tried to think up a good lie.

“That doesn't matter,” Joey said quickly, watching Lance's face. “What matters is that Justin can hear again…that everything's back to normal.”

“It will never be normal again,” Lance said softly. He stood. “Anyone want a beer?”

“Sure! We should celebrate, even though the guest of honor isn't here,” Chris said.

“I'll help you.” Joey followed Lance into the kitchen. “Talk.”

“Joey, what are you talking about?” Lance began to dig through his refrigerator.

“What happened between you and Justin?” Joey's voice was gentle, and Lance was yet again reminded of why Joey was his best friend.

“We happened. And it was good. And then he woke up and he could hear and now he's gone.”

“You guys fucked?”

“It was more than that, Joey,” Lance snapped. “It was everything. He said he's had feelings for me for a while. Justin's bisexual, Joe. Has been for a long time, apparently. We never knew, and don't go blabbing about it.” Lance popped the caps off of four bottles of beer.

“I won't,” Joey promised. “Dammit, Lance, I knew he'd sweet-talk you into something bad someday, but I never expected THIS to happen.”

“It wasn't bad, Joey, it was great. And so what? I mean, he's healed. That's all that matters.”

“He's healed, and your heart is broken,” Joey said, putting a hand on Lance's shoulder. Lance shrugged it off and left the kitchen.

“Lance,” Justin whispered, lightly shaking him. “Lansten.”

“Huh?” Lance rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost midnight. The others had left around eight-thirty, tired of waiting for Justin to come back. “Justin?”

“Hey.” Justin sat down next to Lance on the sofa, turning off the TV with the remote that lay on the coffee table. “I'm sorry I'm late. I was just out listening, you know? I didn't know how much I missed.”

“I'm so glad,” Lance said wearily. “Now you can go back home.”

“So ready to get rid of me?” Justin teased.

“Well, don't you want to go back to your house?”

“Sure, but are you saying you don't want me around here?”

“Well, you don't want to be around here, right?”

Justin shook his head. “I'm confused. You just wanted a quick fuck and that's it?”

“WHAT? No!” Lance exclaimed. “You're okay now. You don't need me now. You can go back to the old Justin.”

“I don't want to go back to the old Justin. I want to come back to the old Lance. The Lance I love.”

“But…you…”

“Dammit, Lance, do you really think that little of yourself?” Justin asked in amazement. “I wasn't saying all that shit just because you were helping me. I meant it. I mean, hell, Lance…I think you fucked the hearing right back into my ears!” Justin said with a smile. “It's not over…unless you want it to be.”

“No,” Lance whispered, still in shock. “No.”

“Good.” Justin smiled and kissed him. “Now, let's go upstairs, and do everything all over again…so I can hear it.”

“Okay,” Lance said, taking Justin's hand and slowly following him up the stairs.

“You're sure about this?” A skeptical Voice said as he watched the two men sleep. The taller man had his arms wrapped around the shorter man, his face buried in the man's blond hair.

“Absolutely. Look at how happy they are.” Voice Two smiled fondly as the men snuggled together, even in sleep.

“If you say so. I still think he's an ass.”

“But he knows it now…and they were meant to be. You know that.”

“Yeah, I know that.”

The End

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