Devotion Chapter Thirty-One: The Morning After
Disclaimer: Happy New Year, everyone! I know I haven't been around since before Thanksgiving, but uh... I'm back now, so that's all that matters, right? >.< Okay, maybe not, but I hope you like the new chapter! Oh, and congrats to *NSYNC on their Grammy nomination!! (Sad that I'm writing about the Latin Grammys, huh?) I hope you can stand that this is incredibly old, and I hope I can concentrate on *NSYNC again, but I'm gonna warn you, I've just discovered the wonderful world of West Wing slash... (Josh&Sam forever!! ^^) Oh, and if anyone is actually still bothering to read "Devotion," please send me feedback! You know I love it!! Thanks! -Angel ^^
Chapter Thirty-One: The Morning After "So..." Chris began, looking around the table at each of his bandmates. Justin hadn't touched his cereal, but he *was* intently watching JC eat his, Joey looked as if death had warmed over, and Lance was possibly asleep, the twenty-eight year-old couldn't really tell. "Wow, you guys are more fun then a barrel full of monkeys!" Chris tried again, but still there was no response. Taking a deep breath, he decided that he'd have to pull out the big guns. "Guys, I'm leaving." Everyone stopped what they were doing-which wasn't much- and turned to Chris in shock. "What?" Justin sputtered. "But, w-why?" "Wait," Joey began, looking about as though he had just woken up. "Wait, what did you say, Chris? What's going on?" "Did you find out?" JC asked, looking deeply hurt and quite alarmed. "Does it really make you that uncomfortable?" "How are we going to sing?" Lance's deep bass voice cut in. Despite the fact that he was usually able to keep a level head, this had totally thrown him off, and he wasn't making sense, either. "What will we perform? Management! There's something to be said about management!" As they all quieted to turn and stare at Lance, Chris' laughter could be heard. "You idiots!" The twenty-eight year-old managed between his chuckles. "I didn't say that I'm leaving the band! I'm just going to take a shower." As everyone's shock turned to anger, Chris quickly made his exit, calling out, "You just talk amongst yourselves, all right?" When the door finally shut, the four remaining members of *NSYNC turned and looked at each other in quiet wonder. Suddenly, Justin brightened. "JC and I have something to tell you," the nineteen year-old informed his bandmates, bubbling with joy. JC shot his younger bandmate a nervous look, and the blonde seemed to loose his courage. "What?" Lance asked, looking at the two expectantly. Justin hesitantly opened his mouth, but JC cut him off. "Nothing," the twenty-four year-old said quickly. "We were just wondering what the rest of the party was like last night." As Lance and Joey began to talk about the celebration at Jive records, Justin stared at his new boyfriend in shock. /Why didn't Josh want to tell them about us?/ the nineteen year-old wondered. The more he dwelled on it, the more insecure Justin became. /Maybe he thinks that he made a mistake, or maybe he's ashamed of me. Maybe he just wants this to be casual, and I'm moving too fast./ Similar thoughts and questions swirled around the young star's head for the rest of the morning. "Well, we need to get to LA for the Latin Grammys, but until then, our schedule is clear," Lance informed his bandmates, once again all gathered in his hotel room. "Okay, so does that mean we get a couple days of vacation?" Joey asked excitedly. Normally the question would have come from Justin, but the teen had been rather subdued since breakfast. "No," Lance sighed. "Actually, we're going to be doing a lot of work in the mean time." "What?" Chris exclaimed. "Oh, wait... we're going to do another video, right?" Sighing again, this time with more frustration, Lance began, "No, actually we need to-" "Practice with Son by Four, the Latin group we're going to appear on stage with," JC cut in. As everyone turned to him in shock, the brunette explained, "I talked to Johnny." "Oh," everyone else replied. "Not to mention the fact that we have to learn `Promise' in Spanish," Lance added, bringing everyone's attention back to the problem at hand. "It's `Yo te voy a amar,' isn't it?" Joey asked, proud that he had remembered. "`Yo te *boy* a amar,'" Chris corrected his bandmate. "You pronounce Vs as Bs in Spanish." Rolling his eyes, Joey muttered, "Oh, wow, I can really see that Latino side of you *now,* Chris." As everyone else laughed, and Chris light-heatedly defended himself, Justin stood up. He waited until all four sets of eyes were on him before announcing, "If that's all, then I think I'm going to go to bed." Lance nodded his dismissal, and the nineteen year-old exited the room. "What was that all about?" Joey asked after the door had been closed. "I don't know," Chris replied. "But he's been like that since this morning." "JC, do you know what's up?" Joey asked, as he, Chris, and Lance turned to the twenty-four year-old expectantly. Shaking his head slowly, the brunette offered weakly, "He was fine last night." Lance sighed once again. "Well, he was fine at breakfast, too. Something must have set him off." Joey fiddled with his watch absently as he tried to figure out what had happened. "Damn!" he exclaimed, causing his bandmates to turn to him in surprise. "I wish I hadn't been so out of it this morning." "No kidding," Chris said dryly. "I was the only one of you who seemed to actually be there, Justin included." "Did you notice anything unusual about his behavior?" JC asked anxiously. "You mean besides the fact that he didn't touch his cereal? No, not really," the twenty-eight year-old replied sarcastically. "He didn't?" JC echoed. "I-I can't believe I didn't notice." "Yeah," Joey agreed. "I mean, you usually watch him like a hawk. Are you two fighting again or something?" Lance frowned at the former red-head disapprovingly, but Joey didn't notice. "No, we're not," JC replied, looking confused. "Actually, things were going surprisingly well." "How so?" Lance prodded. "Did you two work things out last night? Britney said you two were going to try." Flushing, JC said vaguely, "Um, yeah, we talked and stuff." Chris and Joey began to laugh. "Stuff?" the twenty-eight year-older repeated. "What kind of stuff?" Blushing even deeper, the brunette mumbled, "Nothing, we just hung out." "I bet you did," Joey continued to laugh. "Guys, that's enough," Lance hissed. JC looked relieved, but Chris raised an eyebrow at the Mississippian in questioning. /He sure didn't seem to mind when it was *me* making the comments,/ the twenty-eight year-old mused silently. /And I thought they were starting to get along again.../ Hoping to keep everyone from returning to the previous subject, JC asked, "So, we're leaving for Los Angeles tomorrow morning, right?" "Our flight's at ten AM," Lance confirmed. "Then I think I'm going to turn in as well. I need to pack," JC said, standing up. "Yeah, I think I'm gonna get up early and pack tomorrow, so I'm heading to bed as well," Chris yawned. "Besides, I'm pretty tired from last night," he admitted, yawning again. Once Chris and JC left, after saying goodnight, of course, Joey turned to Lance. "Well?" the New Yorker inquired. "Feel like doing anything?" "Joey, didn't I explain this to you last night?" Lance began. Sighing, Joey asked, "Why do you always assume that I'm trying to get into your pants? Lance, I just meant that we could watch a movie, or grab a bite to eat, or-" "Go clubbing?" Lance interrupted with a grin. Laughing, Joey agreed, "Or go clubbing." "Well, would you like to go?" the blonde offered. "Seriously?" Joey replied in disbelief. "You're right, Joe; I've been assuming too much. So what do you say? A night on the town- on me." His eyes lit with sadness, Joey whispered, "You don't have to, Scoop. I don't want you to feel like you have to." "Now you're not listening," Lance chuckled. "I said I was wrong, that's all. I *want* to go clubbing. With you." Smiling, Joey said quietly, "Thank you, Scoop. Thank you." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was short, I know, but I hope it wasn't *too* bad. More problems, I know, but at least things are starting to work out between Lance and Joey. I'm really going to try to write Chapter 32 right away. Really! I meant it this time ^_~ Anyway, thanks for reading! -Angel ^_^