Two 

 

JC wearily tossed his keys onto the table in the hallway and flipped through the mail. He sighed. If Chris didn't stop signing them up to every junk mail list known to man, he was soon going to murder his older roommate. Older by years, but less mature by decades.

“Chris!” JC yelled. “This mail is getting out of control!”

“I can't hear you!” Chris yelled. “Whatever you're yelling at me about I can't hear.”

“I gave myself a bonus and thought I'd go to The Montreal for dinner,” JC said in his normal voice. He heard a buffalo romp across the second floor, then footsteps came tumbling down the stairs. He grinned.

“The Montreal? Expensive. Can I come? We didn't get our bonus this quarter,” JC's roommate Chris said, leaning on the banister.

“Thought you couldn't hear…what the hell is that?” JC gasped.

Chris grinned. He reached up and patted his head. “They're braids.”

“Yes, they are. It looks like a bird crapped on your head,” JC said.

“I like them,” Chris said defensively. “I was gonna go out and use them to get laid tonight, but if you're treating for dinner…”

“I'm not going to The Montreal, Chris. I was kidding. And you think they'll get you laid?” JC went to pour himself a glass of water. He wrinkled his nose at the dirty dishes in the sink. “Wash your dishes.”

“You were kidding?” Chris pouted.

“WASH them,” JC snapped. “God, Chris, you live here practically rent-free…”

“And I worship the ground you walk on for it,” Chris said reverently, bending down to actually kiss JC's feet. JC kicked at his head. The braids swayed as Chris flipped his head up and laughed.

“Just TRY not to be a slob, okay? Just once. What if I had brought someone home with me?”

Chris burst into exaggerated laughter. “YOU? Corpses get more sex than you do, Chasez.”

“Shut up.” JC dumped the rest of his water onto Chris' dirty dishes. “Wash these. I'm going to Joey's for dinner.”

“You're never gonna get over the fact that he's with the love of your life, are you?” Chris asked, hopping up on the kitchen counter.

“He's NOT the love of my life. And they're my best friends. They invited me for dinner with Nick and I'm going.”

“Why wasn't I invited?” Chris demanded.

“You WERE. You just never responded so they assumed you weren't coming,” JC said over his shoulder as he started up the stairs.

“Well…maybe I'll stop in for dessert,” Chris called after him. “I'm gonna try out these braids!” 

“Hi, baby.” Justin turned his face up for JC's kiss. “New cologne. I like it.”

“Old curls. I like them.” JC smiled as he ruffled the dusty curls.

“I hate them, but Joey likes them, so…” Justin smiled his sunny smile. “How's the shop?”

“Boring as usual…except for today,” JC said.

Justin's face lit up. “Gossip? Tell!”

“When everyone gets here,” JC replied. “Can I help?”

“No. Joey made me sit down and do the napkins…so I'm assuming there's nothing to do in the kitchen.”

“Maybe I just don't want your clumsy ass in here!” Joey called from the kitchen.

“God, Joey, you act like I'm blind or something,” Justin yelled back. His sensitive fingers folded the cloth napkins into a flower-like shape.

JC looked down at his ex-boyfriend and sighed. He never could understand how Justin could deal with his blindness so casually, and that was one of the reasons that they had never worked as a couple. “I'm gonna check in there anyway, okay?”

“I'll be here,” Justin said cheerfully.

JC went into the steamy kitchen. Joey had various pots boiling and bubbling, and he was pulling a loaf of bread from the bread machine. “Hey, dude,” Joey said.

“Any news?” JC asked quietly.

“No,” Joey said, his smile fading slightly. “But he's okay about it.”

“I saw there's a new practice going in across town,” JC suggested. “Maybe…”

“It's his decision,” Joey said quickly. “He knows I want him to do more research. All the doctors have said that the blindness COULD be reversed slightly with surgery, but finding someone he trusts enough to do it is another thing. He said he's got such a sexy picture of me in his mind that he's afraid the real thing will ruin him for life,” Joey said, sighing.

“Want me to tell him he's right?” JC asked with a grin, and Joey smacked him with an oven mitt.

“Nick's here!” Justin called from the dining room.

JC put the bread in a basket and wandered out. “Hey,” Nick said with his bashful smile. JC smiled back. Joey had tried to set them up once, but he and Nick were not compatible at all. JC liked Nick's shy demeanor, but they had nothing in common. Nick wanted to be an actor, and had work here and there, but nothing amazing had come his way yet. JC couldn't imagine someone with Nick's personality coming out of his shell enough to act, but Nick on stage was a thing to behold.

“How do they look?” Justin said, pointing to his napkins.

“Very creative,” JC told him.

“Are they snails?” Nick said, winking at JC.

“Snails?” Justin yelled. Nick laughed.

“Just kidding. They're gorgeous,” Nick told Justin. Justin swatted at him. Justin easily stood and carried the napkins to the table. Unless you really watched him he didn't appear blind at all. He had been blind since a very young age, and he had learned to adapt to almost anything that came his way. He worked as a technician in a small recording studio. He had perfect pitch and an ear for music. Joey sometimes called him “Whistler,” after the blind character in the movie “Sneakers.”

“Is Chris coming?” Justin asked, and Nick shivered. Chris had a small crush on Nick, and blatantly flirted with him whenever they were together.

“You're safe, Nicky,” JC said. “He might stop by for dessert, though.”

“Dinner is served,” Joey said, plunking a giant bowl of pasta down on the table. He pulled out Justin's chair for him, and Justin gracefully sat down. Joey pushed the chair in slightly, then planted a kiss on Justin's head.

“Thank you, Joe,” Justin said.

Joey served everyone, then himself. “Oh, I forgot the wine,” he said, snapping his fingers.

“I'll get it,” Justin said, getting up before Joey could reply.

“It's too bad that he's so dependent on everyone,” Nick said sarcastically.

“I know. It's hard to be Prince Charming when your princess is so damn stubborn,” Joey said.

“You have a princess?” Justin asked, returning to the room. He kept one finger on the side of the glass, telling by the coolness when each glass was full.

“You, silly,” JC said. “Why do you think I dumped you? You're too high-maintenance.”

“No, I dumped YOU because you're a sentimental fool,” Justin said affectionately.

“Neither of you dumped anyone. I swooped in, stole Justin from JC, and he couldn't resist my charms,” Joey said, and everyone laughed.

“So…what's the gossip?” Justin asked, turning his face towards JC. “JC said he had an interesting day at the shop.”

“Well…we sort of had a celebrity come in,” JC said, remembering Lance Bass.

“A celebrity? Here? In Lehigh Hill?” Joey asked.

“They're filming a movie here…I've been trying to get some work on the set,” Nick said.

“Lance Bass,” JC said.

Nick dropped his fork with a sharp clatter. “Lance Bass? THE Lance Bass? The one nominated for two Academy Awards?”

“That would be him,” JC said, pushing his pasta around on his plate.

“What was he like?” Nick asked breathlessly.

“Handsome…nice…polite…handsome…” JC rattled off.

“You said that already,” Justin said, smiling. “Someone's smitten.”

“He's a movie star,” JC scoffed. “You don't get smitten over movie stars.”

“Actually, JC, that's EXACTLY who you get smitten over,” Joey commented.

“It doesn't matter. He was nice, and it was an amazing moment, and now it's over. Pass the parmesan cheese,” JC said, concluding the conversation.

Three