Two

Two young men slept. They slept the sleep of the young and exhausted, as well as the young and intoxicated. They slept in separate beds, in separate rooms, but they slept alike. One slept on his left side, the other on his right. One hand fisted the sheet up against a smooth chest while the other hand was tucked under the pillow. At almost the same exact time, they would shift and roll over.

“Are you sure about this?” A voice said. The voice was normal volume, yet neither of the men heard it. The voice was in both rooms at the same time, high above the bed.

“Definitely,” a second voice said.

“He doesn’t deserve it,” Voice One said. “Look at him…thinking he’s something special.” Voice One scowled as it looked at the man with the short curls and the long legs. “He deserves to just be alone for the rest of his miserable life.”

“But HE doesn’t,” Voice Two said gently, looking at the other man, the sleeping blond. “He deserves everything. He’s a good person. And deep down, the other one’s good, too. He just let it all go to his head.”

“Well, what in the world can WE do to make him remember?” Voice One snapped. “This one asked for the way he used to be. Can we DO that?”

“Yes, we can.” Voice Two smiled. “Remember how he said that there was nothing we could take from him that he’d actually miss? Well, there’s ONE thing. And as of right now, he no longer has it.”

“Dammit, Justin…we have thirty-five minutes to eat breakfast. Will you haul your spoiled lazy ass outta bed?” Chris barked, slapping Justin’s hotel room door. “JUSTIN!”

“God, Chris, some people are still in bed,” Joey said, coming out of his hotel room. “Relax. If he misses breakfast, he misses breakfast.”

“Lance isn’t up, either,” JC said. “They’re probably hung over. Or maybe Justin went down to the gym.”

“I’ve already been there,” Chris said. “C’mon. I’m sick of waiting on him. Let Lance get him up.”

Justin yawned and stretched, opening one eye as he looked at the clock. Both eyes flew open as he realized it was nine o’clock. They were supposed to be somewhere by ten, and he still had to shower and eat breakfast. He wondered what had happened to his alarm. He slapped the clock angrily, then jumped out of bed. In his haste he bumped the nightstand, and the lamp teetered before falling to the floor with a loud thump.

At least Justin FELT a loud thump, the vibrations moving slightly through his bare feet. But he didn’t hear the thump. “If a lamp falls in an empty room, does it still make a sound?” He said jokingly to himself, then he frowned. He felt the resonance of the words as they echoed through his skull, but he didn’t hear them in his ears. “Hello?” Justin said. Yet again, nothing. He scratched his head, tugging at the curls as he went to the bathroom. He turned on the shower, waiting for the annoying whine as the water rushed up to the fifteenth floor, where all of NSYNC was staying. Nothing. He didn’t even hear the water hitting the bathtub.

Now Justin was alarmed. He ran back into the hotel room and picked up his Discman, sliding the earphones onto his head. He pushed play, and turned the volume knob all the way up. Absolutely nothing. He tossed the CD player onto the bed, and frantically pulled on a pair of shorts. He grabbed his keycard and opened the door, desperate to find another person.

“Man, I should not drink like that. I hate this hangover shit,” Lance muttered to himself as he let himself back into his room. He had made it down to breakfast and was halfway into his French toast before he realized he had left his wallet in the room. He grabbed his wallet from the nightstand and went back into the hallway. He was scared out of his mind when someone grabbed him. Lance whirled around. “Jesus, Justin, kill me, please!” Lance gasped. He stared at Justin. “Dude, you’re not even dressed.” Justin gasped and stared at Lance, tears actually filling his blue eyes. “I was just kidding,” Lance said.

“Lance, can you hear me?” Justin spoke slowly, carefully enunciating his words.

“Yes, I can,” Lance said, mimicking Justin. “God, what’s wrong with you?”

“I…Lance, I can’t hear you.”

“Ha ha, Justin. Yet another trick to play on Lance. Well, I’m not in the mood for this and I’m hungry.” Lance pushed by him and went towards the elevator.

“Lance.” Lance was stopped by the pure fear in Justin’s voice. He slowly turned around. “Lance, I can’t hear you. I can’t hear your voice. I can’t hear my voice. I overslept because I couldn’t hear the alarm. I knocked a lamp on the floor and didn’t hear it break. Lance…I can’t hear.”

“Hey.” Lance came over and put an arm around Justin. “It’s gonna be okay. Why don’t you go take a shower, and I’ll call the hotel doctor. We’ll send Chris, JC and Joey on to the interview without us, okay?”

“I missed that,” Justin said sadly. “I don’t think I can read lips.”

Lance sighed. “You…shower.” Lance spoke slowly and acted out showering. Justin nodded. “Me…call…doctor. Others…interview. Okay?”

“Okay,” Justin whispered. He went into his hotel room and Lance followed him, shaking his head.

Three