I think it's been exactly one month since I posted something for Choices, which means I kept my word for the first time. I said it would be about a month and here it is one month later and a new section of Choices. I want to thank everyone who has been somewhat patient. The threatening emails have picked up in the past week though. Please guys restrain yourselves. Besides I save all threatening email and send it to friends for fun. :) Also some new characters are added in this one. Let me know what you think. Remember that it takes a little bit to get used to my new characters though.
I want to thank everyone who voted for me in the Boy band awards. Choices picked up two awards to my surprise. Apparently y'all like Chris and Joey in this story. Well thanks!
Disclaimer: blah, blah, you know this right? If not, go back to chapter 1 and read what I wrote there because that's a real disclaimer. Actually no. Go and read Michael's disclaimers for Studio in the Country. They're much funnier then mine and his punctuation is much better!
Chapter 17
"Lance!" Justin shouted at the top of his lungs from across the room. Lance looked up, startled from his work.
"What Justin?"
"I have to pee." Justin said matter-of-factly.
"Then go to the bathroom. Why are you telling me?" Lance asked him.
"Because Joey and JC are in the bathroom. And it's your hotel room."
"Justin, your hotel room is right across the hall. Stand up and walk your lazy ass over there. Quit complaining to me." Lance looked back down at the papers strewn out in front of him.
Justin pouted for a moment, contemplating whether to get up and walk all the way across the hall. Nah. He'd just hold it until Joey and JC were done. Or he could just bother them until they hurried up. That sounded like much more fun.
Lance looked up in time to see Justin walking towards the bathroom door. "Oh no you don't Curly! Sit your ass back down."
Justin pouted but he turned back around.
"I'm bored Lance!" Justin hopped over to him, trying to get a little of his pent up energy out.
"Why don't you go work out with Jean then? I'm sure he'll enjoy the company. You can meet Darren and Daniel later." Justin wrinkled his nose at the idea. "I worked out with JC this morning. Besides I can never keep up with your man when I try to work out with him."
Lance grinned. "He is an animal isn't he."
"Ewww! I don't need to know about your sex life too. I've already got JC sharing with me. I swear I am the only person in this band not getting any right now!"
Justin hopped up on the table, planting his bare feet on Lance's paperwork. That way he wouldn't ignore him.
"Move your feet Justin. They smell bad." Lance said, not giving him the satisfaction of bothering him. "And is it really a big thing that you aren't getting any? I thought you were happy with Casey."
Justin sat Indian-style on the table and watched Lance flip through the papers as they talked. "I am happy with Casey. I really care about her and I have a lot of fun with her. I just miss sex. I haven't had sex in months."
Lance looked up at him, slightly surprised at that. "You and Casey haven't had sex?"
"Nope. We're waiting until we are actually both able to spend an extended period of time with the other person. Not just when she visits me on the weekend or something."
"That's a smart move. I guess I just assumed that you were since you two shared a bed so many times."
Justin shrugged. "You tend to think about sex as something that has to be done in a relationship Lance. I bet you thought that Allie and Nick were sleeping together too."
"Weren't they?"
"Not until they got married. Both of them made the decision to wait until their honeymoon. Is it a gay thing to think about sex that way?"
Lance put the papers down and turned his entire attention to Justin. It was rare that Justin asked a question like that anymore. At first, Justin used to ask Lance all the time if it was a gay thing when he did something that Justin didn't think of as 'normal'.
"I don't think it's a gay thing at all. I guess it's just the way that I look at things. I think of sex as simultaneous with love."
"Sex and love can be separate." Justin said simply, looking down at his hands.
"Do you love Casey Justin?" Lance asked him. He was enjoying this time with Justin. Lance and Justin's friendship had been damaged the most on the last tour. This was really the first time he and Justin had really talked in a long time.
Justin thought about Lance's question for a moment. He knew the answer, but he hated to say it out loud.
"Not really. I have a lot of fun with Casey and she makes me feel good, but I don't love her. Not like I loved Britney. She doesn't love me either. We've talked about it before."
"Does that bother you Justin? Especially since you are around the four of us all the time?"
Justin shrugged. "A little bit. I wish I was in love but I also don't want the responsibility of being in a really heavy relationship."
"You were with Britney for so long. Counting the time when the two of you were in MMC together it was like 6 years. You're only 21. You just need a break from that type of relationship. Just have fun for now."
Justin nodded. He smiled at Lance. "I kind of missed this Lance. You and I have been fighting off and on for so long now. I forgot how cool of a friend you were."
Lance grinned. "I tend to surprise people. I give off such an assholey vibe that people forget that I'm still Lance."
Joey opened the bathroom door and stepped out, followed closely by JC. Justin and Lance looked over at them, watching as both of them turned a deep red color.
"You guys are getting much better at keeping the volume down. We didn't hear a single thing this time." Lance said, trying to see if they could blush more then they already were. It was possible.
Justin hopped off the table and sprinted past them to the bathroom. He slammed the door loudly. A moment later the three of them could hear a loud moan coming from Justin.
Joey and JC exchanged confused glances while Lance just chuckled to himself, picking up his paperwork again. Justin opened the bathroom door and proceeded to hop back over to the table. He jumped back up, reclaiming his place in Lance's way.
"Hey Scoopy, what time is it?" Justin grabbed Lance's wrist and turned it so he could read his watch. Lance jerked his arm away.
"Time for you to go get a watch Curly."
"Really? I thought it was time for someone to go get Chris since the Savage Garden guys were going to be here in a few." Justin grinned slyly. Lance looked at his watch and stuck his tongue out at Justin.
"You know I hate it when you're right. Why don't you go get him then?"
Justin grinned back at Lance and hopped off the table. Continuing with his bouncing theme, he hopped out of the room, leaving JC, Joey, and Lance alone.
"What's with Curly?" Joey asked, settling on the couch. JC lay down, using Joey's lap as a pillow.
"Too much energy and nothing to do with it."
Justin knocked on Chris' hotel room door, jumping up and down in place. Danielle opened the door and just raised an eyebrow at him.
"Hey Dani!" Justin said excitedly.
"No more coffee for you Justin. Either that or we really need to put you on Ritalin again." Danielle said to him unenthusiastically, opening the door so he could bounce past her.
Chris was lying on the floor with the girls who were using him as a jungle gym.
"Hi Curly. Is it time to go to work already?"
Justin sat down on the ground next to him, scooping Haley up into his arms and kissing her. "Yeah, unfortunately. We get to meet our little tour buddies for the next few months."
Chris sat up and untangled Kira from his legs. "Try not to pre-judge them Justin. I'm sure that they are nice guys."
"Yeah I guess. I just wish the BSB were with us again. I miss Nick."
Chris rolled his eyes jokingly. "Of course you miss your little Nintendo buddy. I'm surprised you haven't tried to teach Kira or Haley how to play yet."
"If I thought they could, I would. Now get off the floor old man."
Chris grabbed his heart and fell back down. "Ouch! That hurts Justin. I'm not Kevin you know."
"Yeah you're older then Kevin is." Justin grinned, standing over Chris and dangling Haley over Chris' face.
"Get up or I'll drop the baby on you."
"No you won't. But I'll get up anyway."
Chris sat up and removed Kira again. She had attached herself to his legs again as soon as he lay back down.
"Why don't you take the girls' with you Chris? I want to jump in the pool for a bit." Danielle said hopefully. She wanted a break from both her boyfriend and her kids at least for a little bit.
Justin spun Haley around. "You wanna' come with me Haley? We can play in Lance's room. He's got a lot of paperwork to play with."
"Don't tempt her Justin. You saw what she did to the presents at Nick's wedding." Chris said cautioning him. Haley really was a handful when she got started.
Justin giggled. "I had no idea one little baby could do so much damage. At least nothing was broken."
"Are you going to take the kids or not Chris?" Danielle asked again, getting a little impatient.
"Yeah I'll take them. You go relax for a bit sweetie." Chris grabbed a couple toys and took Kira's hand.
"Let's go Justin. You got Haley?" Justin nodded. "Oops. Almost forgot someone. Busta! Come on boy."
They left the bedroom shutting the door behind them. Danielle sat down on the bed heavily. Finally! She was so exhausted from entertaining the three of them all morning. Plus she felt terrible. All she wanted to do was sleep.
Justin opened Lance's door and walked inside, keeping Haley on a straight path. Chris was following closely behind guiding Kira along.
"Hey we made it! Do we get a prize for beating Joey and JC here?" Chris asked, not even looking up.
"Nope. We beat you this time Chris." Joey answered from the couch. JC was stretched out on the couch with his head in Joey's lap.
"How did that happen?" Chris said, surprised. They were never on time anymore.
Justin whispered in Chris' ear. "They just used Lance's bathroom instead." Chris burst out laughing, making Joey and JC blush again.
Justin grabbed Haley and returned to his position on the table in front of Lance. Haley reached for a pile of papers immediately, attempting to throw them off the table. Lance grabbed them in just the nick of time.
"Oh no you don't little one." Lance leaned forward and gave her a kiss on her nose. Haley pouted for a moment then began to amuse herself with the stuffed animal Justin gave to her.
"So has anyone met these guys before?" Chris asked, letting Kira climb on him to amuse her.
"No, but I talked to Darren on the phone the other day just so it wouldn't be a complete surprise for them when they meet our little rag-tag bunch of men."
"Oh so you told him that JC and Joey were fucking?" Justin grinned over at them.
"Language Justin." Chris said from the floor. He was very strict about what was said around the girls.
"Actually I didn't tell him about any of us. I just told him what our tour plans were. And I told him our names. Apparently they didn't know those."
Jean-Michel opened the hotel room door still sweaty from his workout.
"Good afternoon everyone." He received various waves from the guys.
"Hi sweetie, how was the workout?" Jean-Michel walked over to him. He leaned over for a kiss. "Great." Lance kissed him softly, his nose wrinkling.
"You're all sweaty and smelly honey."
"Oh thanks James. Make me feel so loved." Jean teased him. "I still love you. I just don't want to smell you. Why don't you hop in the shower?"
Jean leaned over and kissed him. "I will be out in a few minutes." Jean-Michel walked into the bedroom to get out of his clothes.
"You two are so good together." Justin said softly. "Thanks Justin. He is pretty great. I don't know how I got so lucky." Jean-Michel stuck his head out of the bedroom.
"You stole my seat on a plane. And I took pity on you."
"Oh hush you." Lance said, laughing at the same time. "That's just what we were talking about earlier. I want that someday." Justin said. "You'll have it Justin. Don't worry."
Jean-Michel walked out of the bedroom wearing only a towel.
"Woohoo! Sexy man!" Justin let out a catcall and whistled at him. Jean grinned and did a little twirl. Lance smacked Justin lightly. "That's my sexy man. Get your own." Everyone laughed at Lance's comment.
There was a knock on the door and out of habit, Jean-Michel went to answer it. He opened the door wearing only his towel much to the shock of the two men standing on the other side.
"Sor....sorry. I think we have the wrong room." The dark-haired man stammered out. "Darren and Daniel correct?" They nodded, a little unsure of who this guy was.
"You are at the right room. The guys are inside waiting for you. Please come in." Still confused, they followed Jean-Michel inside.
"Children, Savage Garden is here. Get up and be polite."
Chris pulled Kira off his chest and stood up. Lance and Justin followed him over, Justin still holding Haley. He was reluctant to put her down knowing her tendency to destroy things.
"Hello. I'm Chris Kirkpatrick. It's great to finally meet you guys." Chris shook their hands quickly, noticing Kira moving towards Jean-Michel out of the corner of his eye. He knew she wouldn't hesitate to grab the edge of his towel.
"Don't even think about it young lady." Chris scooped her up. "You might want to get in the shower Jean." Jean looked down, blushing slightly. "You are probably right Christopher."
"Justin Timberlake. It's good to meet you."
"Lance Bass. I believe we've talked a few times." Darren nodded. "Yes I'm Darren. This is Daniel. He doesn't talk much."
JC stuck his hand out to Darren. "I'm JC Chasez." Darren shook his hand firmly.
"I'm Joey." He shook Daniel's hand before turning to look at Darren.
"Hello Joey. I'm Darren." Joey nodded slowly, staring into Darren's eyes. "Hello." Joey held Darren's hand, lingering for a moment. JC narrowed his eyes slightly.
He grabbed Joey's arm. "Come on Joey. Let's go sit down." He dragged Joey over to the couch.
Lance and Justin exchanged glances. "Let's all sit down." Chris returned to his place on the floor and his role as a jungle gym. Justin put Haley down on Chris' chest and sat on the floor. Darren and Daniel sat on the couch across from Joey and JC. Lance sat next to Justin on the floor.
"I don't want to seem rude, but who was the man in the towel?" Darren asked, slightly embarrassed.
Lance laughed. "That's my boyfriend Jean-Michel. He just got back from his workout. For some stupid reason, the bathrooms in this place are not attached to the bedroom. He was heading for the shower when you knocked."
Darren nodded. "That's right. You're the gay one."
Lance shifted uncomfortably. "Well yes, but I try to think of myself as Lance, not as the gay one."
Darren blushed. "I'm sorry. That's not really what I meant by that. We don't know much about you five. I knew one of you were gay. And that one of you dated Britney Spears."
Justin raised his hand. "That's me." Chris grinned. "Glad you can admit it Curly. I would deny it personally."
Justin stuck his tongue out at Chris. "I'm surprised Dani admits she dates you. I would deny that."
Lance leaned towards Darren and Daniel. "We really aren't like this all the time."
"Yes we are. Don't lie to them Scoop." Chris said sitting up. "Let me introduce you to the girls." He lifted Haley up. "This is my daughter Haley." He put her down, lifting up Kira. "And this is my daughter Kira. My girlfriend Dani is down by the pool. She needed a break from us."
"How do you tell them apart?" Daniel asked, speaking for the first time. He moved to the floor sitting next to Chris. Darren frowned slightly.
"Haley has a freckle on the inside of her left wrist. Kira doesn't. That's the easiest way."
"After being around them for awhile they start to look different." Justin added in. Daniel nodded. "Can I hold one?" Chris nodded, handing him Haley.
Lance sat next to Darren on the couch so they could talk. JC was occupying all of Joey's attention, trying to keep him from talking to Darren. Lance wanted to explain about it.
"I want to apologize for the way JC and Joey are acting. They usually aren't like that at all."
"JC is very protective of his boyfriend isn't he?" Darren whispered. Lance looked at him in shock. "How did you know?"
"Mostly the way he looked at me when I was shaking his hand. I'm not a threat to him. I don't date men."
"I'll make sure he knows." Lance said, smiling at Darren.
"You could just try to be nice Josh." Joey said to him. The two of them were eating dinner in the dressing room alone.
"I am nice Joey. I just don't like him very much." JC said, pushing his food around on his plate.
"Fine you don't like Darren. That's okay. But why are you so mean to Daniel. The guy is so nice. I don't think he has a mean bone in his body." Joey reached over and speared a carrot from JC's plate, popping it into his mouth.
JC was quiet. He didn't know why he disliked the members of Savage Garden so much. He just felt uncomfortable around them.
JC sighed heavily. "I'll try to be nicer okay." Joey smiled. "That's all I ask honey." They ate in silence, each of them picking at their food.
"Excuse me. I'm sorry to interrupt." Daniel stuck his head in the door, his face filled with concern.
"It's okay Daniel. Come on in." Joey said, smiling at him. JC forced himself to smile.
"I'm sorry to bother you both. I see you are having dinner alone, but have you seen a black backpack? I don't know where it went. Darren's gonna kill me if he finds out I lost it." Daniel wrung his hands, trying to keep his emotions in check.
Joey narrowed his eyes slightly. There was something strange going on in Darren and Daniel's relationship. Daniel acted like a battered wife or in his case a battered band mate.
"Did you get it out of the hotel room before we left?" JC asked him, trying to be helpful. He wanted to keep his promise to Joey.
Daniel nodded. "I had it in the limo and I know I brought it in here with me. I was hoping someone had seen it."
"Sorry. We'll keep our eyes out for it though." Joey said, smiling at him. Daniel nodded, his eyes misting over. "Thanks Joey. Thanks JC. Maybe Shivanti has seen it." He left the room quickly.
Joey stood up. "I think I'm going to follow him. I want to talk to him, see if I can get him to open up a little."
JC scowled at him, sitting back in his chair. He crossed his arms and looked up at Joey.
"Josh, please. Don't do this to me. I'm trying to help him. If you remember I'm pretty good at that. I've certainly helped you."
"I would prefer that you don't help him the same way you help me. Or is that your technique as a therapist?"
Joey was taken aback at JC's nasty tone. Giving him a disgusted look, Joey just left the room. Whatever bug had crawled up JC's ass was really starting to piss him off big time.
"Daniel! Wait up." Joey jogged down the hall catching up to the blond man.
Daniel smiled politely at Joey, wishing with all his heart that he would go away. Darren didn't want him talking to Joey or JC much. He said the two of them were off limits.
"I'll help you look for the bag." Joey said, falling into place next to him. Daniel shook his head.
"No, no. That's okay. You seemed busy with JC. Why don't you go back there?" Daniel's voice had a pleading edge that Joey caught onto immediately.
"Do you want to talk about anything? You seem a little jumpy around us." Joey said ignoring Daniel's plea.
Daniel stopped and looked up and down the hall. "Look I'll level with you Joey." He paused, trying to figure out what he was going to say. "Darren and I like to focus on our performances. I get jumpy and nervous before them. That's all." Well at least that was true, it just wasn't the truth Joey was looking for and he knew it.
Joey watched Daniel's eyes as he lied to him. Joey let it slide, realizing that whatever it was really hurt Daniel. He would talk to him about it later.
"So what's it like performing with us? We can be a real pain in the ass sometimes. Our last tour with Backstreet was pretty wild but all ten of us are really close. We sometimes forget what its like for outsiders." Joey asked, trying to get Daniel to speak.
Meanwhile, Daniel was close to hysterics. He had to get Joey away from him. If Darren caught the two of them talking, he was going to get very mad. Daniel cringed at the very thought of Darren's temper. He didn't want to get him mad again.
"Joey...I need to go!" Daniel spun around and ran down the hall away from him.
Needless to say, Joey was confused. Shrugging, he decided to deal with that later. He should probably go back and deal with Josh now. Joey turned to head back to the dressing room and stopped. He didn't want to deal with it right now. He just needed to get away from him for a little bit. Both of them needed to cool off. Wonder what Chris is up to? he thought, heading to the cafeteria where everyone else was.
"Daniel get over here." Darren growled from across the room. Daniel immediately scurried over to him.
"What is it Darren?" He asked, knowing that it had something to do with their performance tonight. Daniel had made a mistake during Truly, Madly, Deeply.
Darren slapped him across the cheek. "What the hell do you think you were doing tonight?" Daniel bowed his head not meeting Darren's cold eyes.
"I'm sorry Darren. It will never happen again." Daniel apologized, hoping that was enough tonight.
Darren grabbed his chin and lifted his head. "You bet it will never happen again. How could you be so stupid?"
Daniel's eyes filled with tears, but he quickly blinked them back. Crying in front of Darren was worse then not crying. Darren only yelled at him more when he cried.
"I'm sorry Darren. It was an accident." He mumbled. Darren grabbed his ear and twisted it. Daniel yelped softly. "Make sure that accident doesn't happen again."
Darren looked at his friend and band mate. "I'm going back to the hotel with Shivanti. If my wife calls, you know what to say."
"That you're busy fucking your mistress and you can't come to the phone right now." Daniel said, amazed that those words came out of his mouth.
"What the fuck did you just say?" Darren grabbed Daniel's hair, pulling his head down.
"I'm sorry." Daniel didn't even get to finish apologizing before Darren began to knee him in the stomach. Four, five, six times. Daniel lost count, trying to ignore the pain that he felt.
Darren stopped and let him go. "Now if my wife calls, what are you going to say?"
Daniel wiped his mouth, breathing heavily. "That you are unable to come to the phone because you are out at a club. You will call her back tomorrow morning."
Darren grabbed him again, glaring into Daniel's eyes. "Exactly."
Darren let him go, stalking out of the room. Daniel crumpled as soon as the door was shut. He sat on the ground, hugging his knees to his chest and sobbing silently.
The door opened again but Daniel didn't notice.
"Daniel! What happened to you?" Jean-Michel knelt down next to him, lifting his head up. Daniel shrugged Jean-Michel off.
"Nothing. I'm fine. Please just go." He begged him, wiping the tears from his face.
"Why are you crying?" Jean sat next to him, putting his arm around his shoulder. Daniel started to tremble, fighting his urge to run.
"I...don't know." Daniel wrapped his arms around Jean-Michel, trying to almost shield himself from something that was no longer there.
"Shhh....it will all be okay." Jean rubbed his back softly, letting the frightened man sob on him. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Daniel shook his head. "I can't tell you. Please don't ask." His voice trembled in fear. Jean-Michel nodded. "I will not say ask again. I promise."
"Thank you."
Chapter 18
Justin ran his hand through his hair, pushing his curls back from his eyes. It was time for a haircut, but he couldn't be bothered at the moment. Concentrating, his eyes followed JC as he dribbled up the court. JC swung right, trying to cut Justin off. Banking left, Justin passed him and sunk the basket.
"In your face! Ha!" Justin laughed at JC, who just shook his head. "Whatever Curly. Just pass the ball so I can kick your ass now."
Justin passed him the ball and put his hands on his hips, waiting for JC to do something. JC began to dribble the ball in place, looking up and down the court. Dashing quickly to the left, he pushed Justin out of the way, knocking him down. JC made the quick lay-up and turned to look back at Justin.
"Damn Josh. Chill. That hurt." Justin hadn't gotten up yet, figuring that he would just stay down and rest for a moment.
"Too bad. You were too slow." JC said his voice entirely without sympathy.
Justin frowned at the tone of his voice. "What's wrong Josh?"
"Nothing. Why do you ask?" JC stood on the foul line, lining up his shot carefully.
"Hmm...let's see. You've become a complete and total dick the last few days."
"I have not." JC said, taking another foul shot.
"How come you and Joey have basically been ignoring each other?"
"We are not ignoring each other Justin. We both realized that we've been neglecting our friends the last few months. That's all."
"Okay. I just think its funny that you guys decided to do that after Darren paid Joey a little bit of attention. Are you jealous Josh?"
"If I was jealous Justin, I would be spending more time with Joey. I am not threatened by Darren. The guy is not even in my mind."
Justin looked at him with a unconvinced glare. JC sighed. Justin wasn't going to let this drop. Fine, he'd tell him.
"Look we've just been having a little bit of trouble okay. It's nothing serious and we are working it out. I guess I am a little jealous that Joey is trying so much harder then everyone else to make Darren and Daniel feel welcome. I just miss him spending that much time with me."
JC sat down on the ground next to Justin. "Oh Josh don't worry about it. Joey is in love with you. You have nothing to worry about."
"I hope your right Justin. I really hope your right."
"I know I'm right."
JC looked over at him smiling. "Thanks Justin. Sorry about knocking you over."
"It's cool Josh. I'm used to being knocked over. Jean-Michel is a maniac when he plays."
Chris spun Kira around, dropping her on the bed next to Danielle. She looked up at him. "I thought you said you were going to take them out of the room."
Chris shrugged. "Sorry. I wanted to spend some more time with you honey. I figured all four of us could spend some time together."
"I wanted to spend some time alone Chris!" She shouted at him, sitting up and glaring at him.
Chris shrank back. The past week everything he said seemed to set her off. He had a suspicion what it was, but he didn't know how to ask her.
"I'm going to go take the girls over to Justin's room. I'll be back in a few minutes."
Danielle burst into tears. "I just want to be alone." Chris didn't know what to do.
"I will be right back." He grabbed Kira under one arm and scooped Haley up under the other. Chris dashed out of the room, heading across the hall to Justin's room.
Knocking on the door loudly, he waited impatiently for Justin to open the door.
"What's up Chris?" Justin said from behind him, still holding the basketball in his hands. Chris turned and shoved Kira in his arms. Justin dropped the ball instead of Kira. "Watch the girls for me. I'll explain later."
"Umm...okay." Justin took Haley out of Chris' arms, shifting Kira to his other hip.
"Thanks Justin." Chris ran back into his room, leaving Justin standing in the hall holding the girls. "What was that about?" Justin asked them.
Chris sat back down on the bed. Danielle was curled up in a little ball, still sobbing quietly. Chris smoothed her hair softly.
"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Danielle rolled over and looked at her boyfriend. "I don't know. I can't seem to help it. I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it." He laid down next to her, pulling her closely to him. Chris wanted to ask her, but he wasn't sure.
"Umm...Dani. Can I ask you something?" Danielle nodded. "When was the last time you got your period?"
"What?"
"Please don't take this the wrong way. It's just that the last time you were." He paused. "This cranky, you were pregnant with Kira and Haley."
Danielle sat up quickly. "Oh my god! I didn't even think about that. Shit Chris. It was the middle of May the last time I got my period."
"It's the end of June! You didn't notice that you didn't get it?"
"I'm sorry! I guess it slipped my mind. I've been a little busy taking care of the girls while traveling with you guys." She shouted at him.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound like it was your fault or anything."
Danielle began to cry again, burying her face in Chris' shoulder. He hugged her tightly. "Look when we are off tomorrow we will have Lance find a doctor and we will find out for sure."
Danielle pushed herself away from Chris. "No! I want to find out for sure now. Go down to the hotel gift shop and buy a test."
Chris sighed. "Come on Dani. I don't want to buy a pregnancy test."
"Please Chris. Please." She pleaded with him, tears running down her cheeks.
"Okay wait here." He relented quickly, unable to say no to her sad face. Plus he wanted to know as well.
Chris leaned over and gave Danielle a kiss on her forehead. Grabbing his wallet, he headed out of the hotel room, praying that he wouldn't run into anyone.
Chris passed Joey, who was sitting in the hallway talking on his cell phone.
"Yes Ma. I know Ma. Sorry." Joey said apologizing again for what he had apparently done to her months ago when he told her he was in love with Josh.
"Are you praying?" Phyllis asked him.
"I pray Ma."
"Are you praying to be cured of this problem you have?"
"Ma its not a problem."
"The sooner you realize that this is not your lifestyle choices the better."
"Okay Ma."
"Don't take that tone with me Joseph. I'm still your mother." She was quiet for a moment. "How is Joshua?"
This was why Joey was still confused. She would tell him how horrible he was and then she would turn around and ask how JC was.
"Josh is okay."
"Is everything okay between the two of you? I don't want him hurting you Joseph."
"He's not hurting me Ma. We are just going through some relationship stuff. Its completely normal."
"Okay as long as he's not hurting you. Do you want to talk to Dad?"
"Yeah. I love you Mom."
Chris stood in the elevator, his mind going a thousand places at once. If Danielle really was pregnant again that was going to change everything. Chris was pretty sure that she was.
The doors opened and Jean-Michel and Lance walked on. "Chris. What are you doing here?"
Chris laughed nervously. "I could ask the two of you the same thing."
"We're actually heading down to the restaurant. What about you?"
"Gift shop. I lost my toothbrush." Chris hoped that they would believe it.
"Okay. Make sure to charge it to the room. That way management covers it for you." Lance said.
"I can pay for my own toothbrush Lance."
"Okay, it's up to you."
Lance was quiet for a moment. "Have you talked to AJ any Chris?"
Chris nodded. "I talked to him for a few the other day. Things are still a little weird at their house. Apparently Kevin and his son aren't getting along that well. AJ's feeling a little trapped."
"What's Kevin's son's name?" Lance had been basically frozen out of Kevin's life. Kevin still hadn't really forgiven him for stopping the concert back in March.
"It's Ben." Chris tried to keep his mind on the conversation, but he couldn't. This elevator was taking forever.
"How's Danielle today Chris? She was a little agitated yesterday."
"What do you mean by that Lance?" Chris asked, hoping Lance hadn't guessed the same thing he had.
"Nothing. I just wanted to make sure she was okay. Is she?"
The elevator doors opened, finally. Chris turned to look at Lance. "She's fine. Thanks for asking. I'll see you two later." He left the elevator as quickly as possible.
"What was that about?" Lance asked Jean-Michel. "I have no idea. Do you think he knows that he did not get off on the floor where the gift shop is?"
"Probably not. So what do you want for dinner?"
Chris cursed himself for getting off the elevator. How could he have known it was the wrong floor? He pushed the door open to the stairs and ran down them.
Justin sat on the floor with the girls next to him. Kira was holding a Nintendo controller in her hand. Haley was slamming hers against the floor.
"No Haley. Watch me." He held it in his hands, pressing the buttons. "See. The little people on the TV move when you press the buttons."
There was a soft knock on the door. Justin stood up. "You two keep practicing." Kira stuck her controller in her mouth again.
Justin opened the door. "Oh hi Daniel." He opened the door all the way and motioned for him to come in. Daniel smiled. Darren had given him permission to talk to Justin as much as he wanted. He was harmless in Darren's eyes.
"How is today's lesson going?" Daniel asked, motioning towards the girls. Justin laughed.
"About as good as yesterday's. Haley still thinks she's supposed to bang the controller on the ground and Kira just tries to eat hers."
Daniel smiled and sat on the ground. He picked Kira up and put her on his lap. "Well then how about we pick up where our lesson stopped yesterday?"
"Sure." Justin sat on the ground next to him, pulling Haley onto his lap. He had been teaching Daniel how to play Nintendo the past few days. Finally Justin had someone else to play Nintendo with and Daniel finally had someone to just laugh with.
The two of them played a quick game of Street Fighter before Justin decided to try something new with him. Kira and Haley had fallen asleep really quickly.
Justin put in a new game. "This is a new one. It's called Hot Zone. You'll like it."
Daniel nodded. "Before we start Justin, can I ask you to do me a favor?"
Justin shrugged. "Depends on the favor."
"Can you ask Joey to please back off? Everything really is okay with me."
Justin nodded. "Yeah I can do that. I will tell you that all of us have been pretty worried about you. Darren seems a little.." Justin wanted to pick his words carefully. "Controlling."
Daniel seemed to close off for a moment. Justin watched him closely. Daniel shook his head, his eyes regaining focus.
"Darren and I have a system. He takes care of all the important stuff. He is controlling, but not in a bad way. Honest."
"All right. So do you want to try the new game?" Justin asked, changing the subject, sensing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with Daniel either.
"You're on."
JC stood in the shower, letting the hot water run over his body. The game with Justin had actually helped him a lot. He felt really bad about hitting Justin though.
There was a knock on the bathroom door and Joey stuck his head in.
"Hey honey. How was the game?" Joey asked. JC stuck his head out of the shower, smiling slightly.
"Good. How did the talk with your mother go?" He motioned for Joey to sit on the sink so they could talk.
"Not bad. I really wish she would make up her mind about this though. One minute she's telling me to pray for my soul and then she asks how our relationship is and how you are."
"It sounds like she is coming around. Slowly granted, but at least its something. How's Big Joe?"
Joey grinned. "Dad's great. He said he went to lunch the other day with your Dad."
"Yeah Dad told me. Apparently Big Joe just wanted someone who won't scream when he talks about the two of us together. They had a great time."
Joey watched as JC rinsed his hair off. Something was different. Usually he would be aching to jump in the shower and do fun things with Josh. Instead he was content to sit here.
JC noticed that Joey wasn't joining him. It usually took a moment of him stepping into the bathroom to strip down and join JC in the shower.
Reluctantly, Joey admitted that he needed to get himself into this or Josh would notice the difference. He took his clothes off and stepped into the shower with Josh.
Chris walked casually through the gift shop, looking for the pregnancy tests. The last thing he wanted to do was ask someone. They were probably near the condoms. All he had to do was find the condoms.
Spotting them finally, he groaned softly. He was right. They were with the condoms. And the condoms were behind the counter. He was going to have to ask anyway.
"Excuse me?" Chris said softly to the clerk. She turned to face him with a bored expression on her face. It immediately changed when she saw who it was addressing her.
"Oh my God! You're Chris aren't you?" Chris silently cursed. It was just his luck that the clerk would be an 'Nsync fan. How was he supposed to ask for a pregnancy test now?
"No. My name is Jack. You must have me confused with someone else. Sorry." He smiled at her warmly. She narrowed her eyes.
"Sorry about that sir. You look just like someone else who is staying in this very hotel. What can I do for you?" Chris knew she hadn't bought it at all.
"I need one of those pregnancy tests you have behind the counter."
Her eyes widened. Chris began to blush. He leaned forward. "Please, I know that you didn't believe me. Just don't say anything. Can I have the test?"
She nodded, picking up one of the tests. "This is very reliable one and it's a two-pack. You are going to want two to be sure, Jack." Chris nodded. She rang them up quickly dropping it into a bag for him.
"That's going to be $13.80." Chris opened his wallet, dismayed to find that it was empty. "Christ." He muttered as he pulled out his credit card.
"Here." She quickly ran the credit card through, flipping it over to check the signature before handing it back to him.
"Here's you card Jack. The receipt will be out in a moment." She smiled warmly at him. Chris smiled back.
"Thank you..." He trailed off, not knowing her name. "My name's Stacey."
"Thank you Stacey. It means a lot for you to do that."
Stacey waved her hand. "Don't worry about it. I'm sorry I said anything. I had heard that the five of you were staying here, but I wasn't expecting you to show up in here. Usually bands just send managers or bodyguards down to get stuff they need."
Chris blushed. "I couldn't really ask anyone to buy this for me. My girlfriend would have killed me."
Stacey nodded. "I understand." Looking both ways, she slipped a card out from her pocket. "If you need anything else or if you need advice about the area, just call me. That's my cell number."
Chris nodded. "Thanks." He signed his receipt and walked out.
Joey ran his hands down JC's back, kissing him forcefully at the same time. JC was kissing him back, but both of them felt the reluctance in the kiss.
JC pushed Joey back slightly. "Why are we doing this?" Joey shrugged. "I honestly don't know."
"Neither of us really want this right now so why don't we stop?" JC asked him. Joey nodded, backing away, but still staying in the shower.
They stared at each other, looking at the person they loved. JC shivered slightly as he stood under the hot water.
"What's going on between us Joey?" JC asked quietly. Joey didn't answer, instead dropping his head and looking at the water swirling down the drain.
"Is there someone else Joey?" It hurt him to even ask that, but he needed to know. That was the only explanation JC could come up with.
Joey looked up quickly. "God NO! You're the only person I love Josh. That hasn't changed."
"Then what has changed?"
Joey sat down on the floor of the shower, letting the water hit his body. He hugged his knees to his chest.
"Nothing has changed Josh. The situation is just different now." Joey lied to him, breaking a promise he had made not to lie to Josh no matter what.
JC sat down next to him staring into Joey's eyes. "Bullshit. Now whose the one playing JC in the relationship? This is my role. You know, pushing the other person away. I promised not to do that to you so why are you doing it to me?"
Joey knew he was running from Josh without moving. He wanted to get away and each lie took him further away.
"I'm not pushing you away. You are just making too much out of this."
JC nodded. "Maybe I am, but I doubt it. See you at the show tonight Joey." He stood up and walked out of the shower, grabbing a towel and wrapping it tightly around his waist. Turning to look at Joey still sitting on the floor, JC felt his heart breaking.
"I love you Joey." He walked out of the bathroom, leaving Joey there.
Justin and Daniel lay down on the bed with the girls between them.
"I'm exhausted. All I want to do is sleep until the show tonight." Daniel said, stroking Kira's face softly.
"Same here. I just hope these two stay asleep." Justin said yawning.
"I'll leave you then. Darren and Shivanti are probably out anyway." Daniel sat up, stretching as he yawned.
"No you don't have to leave. The bed is huge. Just crash here." Daniel looked at him.
"Are you sure?" Justin nodded. "Just lay your cute little Australian ass back down Daniel and go to sleep."
Daniel grinned, laying back down and doing exactly what Justin said.
Danielle and Chris waited impatiently. Chris checked his watch for the five hundredth time in the last thirty seconds.
"Stop checking your watch Chris. You're making me nervous." Dani said quietly.
"Sorry." He sat down next to her, reaching for her hand.
"Chris what if I am pregnant again? I can't raise three kids on my own. The two of them are bad enough. And I can't take care of the two of them properly while I'm pregnant. What are we going to do?"
"We are going to get through this no matter what. Just think Dani. Another baby. How great would that be?"
Dani's eyes filled with tears. "I don't want to be pregnant again Chris. I'm not ready for this. I'm not ready for another one."
He hugged her tightly. "We don't know for sure yet." He looked at his watch. "But we can find out now. Let's go."
Dani shook her head. "You look. I can't." Chris let her go and walked into the bathroom.
It was blue. Oh my god. It was blue. Chris steadied himself against the counter for a moment.
Chris walked back out and sat next to Dani again. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He pulled her into a tight hug, crying softly.
"It's positive." Danielle began to sob loudly in his arms, pulling him down so they were laying on the bed crying together.
Lance clinked glasses with Jean-Michel. "Here's to the most beautiful man I know." Jean blushed.
"Oh James. You are so silly sometimes."
"Just take a compliment Jean. I mean it." He smiled at him happily as they drank their wine.
"This tour is going so well in comparison to the last one. It's such a nice change."
Jean-Michel took a bite of his salad. "Do not count your chickens yet James. It has only been a month. There is almost another month to go."
"I know. I just feel good about this one. Everyone is fine." Lance smiled.
--But everyone isn't fine. Poor Lance is in for a surprise.---
Also I am conducting a little survey here. I want to know who your favorite characters in Choices are and why. I know it's a tough assignment but I have faith in all of you. I'm pretty curious as to who people like and why. There are some characters that I feel like haven't gotten much attention and I want to know if people actually want them to get more attention or if they like it this way. So email me and let me know. Thanks!!