Devotion Chapter Forty-Three: "Progress"
author: Angel
e-mail: Angel1313@att.net
disclaimer: Fiction
Notes: This is out a little later than I expected, but I wanted to edit it before I sent it out. Chapter 44 will come much sooner. Strangely, I finished writing that chapter before this one! It was odd because I don't usually do that. O.o Anyway, I need to edit it, but it should probably be out Monday or Tuesday. Beyond that, just enjoy the story! -Angel ^_^
Chapter Forty-Three: "Progress" /It's more complicated than that./ JC sighed. Even in his mind the excuse sounded hollow. So what if it was complicated? Justin still thought that he didn't want to be with him. JC hadn't done anything to make the younger man think otherwise. JC closed his eyes briefly before looking over at the blonde. Justin was staring blankly out the tinted windows of the SUV. JC sighed again. /And now all my "protection" of Justin and his feelings have turned around and caused him pain. Can't I do anything right?/ JC shook his head. Justin was doing enough self-loathing for the both of them. JC had to focus on making things better. He didn't have long to think about it, though, as they quickly pulled into the studio's lot. "Hello, you boys must be *NSYNC," a young woman greeted them as they entered the studio they were going to be using. She had the lightest hint of an accent. "Yes, we are," Lance confirmed. Extending his hand to her, he added, "I'm Lance Bass." "Joey Fatone," Joey put in quickly, winking at her. Lance elbowed him in the stomach. Chris was next to speak up. "I'm Justin Timberlake," he said, smiling. "The teen dream himself." The woman looked at Chris skeptically, but replied politely, "Nice to meet you, Justin." "I'm Justin," the real Justin said, folding his arms across his chest. He wasn't in the mood for games. "That's Chris," Lance explained. "He's weird like that sometimes." "All the time," Joey muttered. Chris dove for him, and they began to wrestle around. "Oh," the woman said, her eyes widening. "That's nice." Turning back to the three remaining members of *NSYNC, she added, "I'm Alex Macandulce." Lance couldn't conceal his surprise. "Is something wrong?" Alex asked, her face full of concern. "I expected a man," the Mississippian admitted sheepishly. "Well, I expected men, too, so I guess we're both in for a long night," Alex replied, glancing at the two members of *NSYNC still rolling around on the floor. Lance laughed. Justin and JC remained silent. Alex glanced at JC. "I don't believe we were introduced...?" "I'm JC." Smiling, Alex said, "Good, now we all know each other. Let's get to work!" "And another basic principle of Spanish is that..." Justin sighed. They'd been in the studio for over an hour and they hadn't done any singing yet. He didn't want to learn Spanish; he wanted to learn "Yo te Voy a Amar." Suddenly, someone put an arm around the blonde's waist. Justin looked over to see that it was JC. He scooted closer, trying to read the older man's face. "Josh?" JC kept his eyes on Alex. "Just a little bit more, Just. Then we'll get to the fun stuff." Justin sighed again. Resting his head against JC's shoulder, he closed his eyes. Justin was pretty sure that he fell asleep, because he then heard JC singing softly into his ear. "And I will take you in my arms, and hold you right where you belong. `Till the day my life is through, this I promise you. This I promise you." "It appears we have a volunteer!" Alex said as soon as JC finished. Justin opened his eyes. "Guess I wasn't dreaming," he mumbled to himself. JC glanced at him, but said nothing. Standing up, he said, "What would you like me to do?" Alex handed him a piece of paper. "Sing." JC was unfazed. "My verse or the entire thing?" "Just your verse." Chris laughed. "Let's see if he can find it." Alex glared at him, and the twenty-eight year-old quickly shut-up. JC took a deep breath and began to sing. His clear voice filled the small room, leaving his audience speechless. He pronounced everything correctly and kept the tempo. JC was flawless. The rest of the group was impressed. Justin watched him, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Every word that rolled off of JC's tongue pulled Justin closer. By the time JC finished, the blonde had nearly fallen off his chair. "Josh, that was amazing," he breathed as JC returned to sit beside him. "Naw, I messed up on a couple parts, I think," JC replied modestly. "That was perfect, JC," Alex announced from across the room. "Or not," JC said, shrugging. Justin smiled and snuggled up to the older man. "You're so cute sometimes, Josh." /Breath, breath,/ JC thought to himself, trying not to panic. /He's not coming on to you. He's just saying that because he's being nice. There's no need to fend him off./ Taking one last deep breath, he smiled. Wrapping an arm around the younger man, JC said, "So are you, Justin. But if you're not quiet, you'll be next up there." Justin sat back up, his eyes wide with horror. "But I haven't learned the song yet!" "I have the music right here," JC replied, producing the sheet of paper he had sung from. "But it's not even the music! It's just the words!" Justin protested. "Just, it's `Promise.' We know the music," JC pointed out. Justin shook his head. "It's different." JC smiled slightly. "Whatever you say, hon. Now, try to pay attention to what Alex is saying." "It *is,*" the younger man insisted. Laughing, JC pulled Justin closer. "Just try to relax a little, okay?" Justin sighed and laid his head on JC's shoulder. "I'll try," he whispered, his words almost getting swallowed up by a yawn. All the travel was beginning to wear on the young man, who had not gotten much sleep on the plane. He had also, unlike JC, neglected to take a nap when he returned to his room. Justin had spent much of the time contemplating his relationship with JC, and why his bandmate wasn't attracted to him. That had ended up occupying him for the entire two hours. Justin opened his eyes, the self-depreciating thoughts returning. Suddenly he was awake again. It turned out to be a good thing, because Alex announced, "All right, I'm going to work with you part by part. We're going to start with the chorus because you all sing that. After we're though with that I'll work with you each individually, starting with Lance, Chris, and then Joey. Next I'm going to help fine-tune JC, and last I'll move on to Justin. When you're not working with me, work with each other. Everybody got that? Excellent. Then let's get started!" Justin sighed. Now he wished he had fallen asleep. The prospect of spending the night learning "Yo te Voy a Amar" loomed before him like the nightmare he was sure it was going to be. Sighing again, the teen pushed himself up. "Might as well get this over with." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yeah, I don't really like the ending, either. Still, it had to be done. Anyway, please send me feedback, as I'd really like to know what you think. Thank you so very much to those of you who *did* send me feedback. I love hearing from you! It means so much, and it makes me write faster! Honest! ^_~ Thank you again, and I'll be off now -- got to edit 44! -Angel ^_^