"Mmmm..."
"Lance?"
"Huh? Oh!" Lance woke up with a start, "Oh God! How long have I been out?"
"Couple hours. Or three. Or four..." JC teased him.
"Man, I'm sorry!" Lance yawned and rubbed his eyes.
"Nevermind. If there's one thing I can't hold against anyone is falling asleep just like that," JC chuckled, "I just woke you up to ask if you wanted lunch."
"Hmm, yeah, sure. Were you thinking room service?"
"I was actually thinking going out but we can order in if you want?"
"Nah, it's ok with me. Just let me make myself presentable again," Lance chuckled as he went over to the bathroom and JC held himself so he wouldn't just say out loud that he thought Lance looked gorgeous already. He would never admit it to Lance, but he had silently stared at the blonde's sleeping form for a good hour. And then Lance had moaned JC's name in his sleep and JC had felt his blood freeze when something Justin had said once came back to his mind "You wouldn't like to kiss those pretty lips and touch that pale, pale skin while he moans and whispers 'Oh... Josh...' with that porn bass voice of his in your ear?"
And JC realized that, yes, he wanted it. Ever since that night in Lance's hotel room on the last night of the tour, he had been trying to figure out what the hell he was feeling for Lance. At first he had thought it was just a oh hey I'm lonely, he's nice and good looking, lusting after Justin hurts so let's lust after Lance kinda thing. Because he didn't *love* Lance and there was no possibility of anything ever happening there since Lance was straight. And until Lance called him the day before he was still thinking like that, but seeing Lance again showed him that maybe it wasn't just that. And he was kicking himself for it. One straight guy in his past was enough, wasn't it?
"There's this restaurant not far from here that has the *best* food ever! Well, aside from my mom's, of course," Lance said as he came back into the bedroom, looking even more gorgeous than before.
"The day I find someone that cooks better than Diane I'll marry them," JC grinned and Lance chuckled.
"Anyone who heard that and didn't know you would actually think that you like to eat," Lance smirked as they headed for the door.
"Hey, I do!" JC said, glaring at Lance as he locked the door to his room.
"Eating once every 48 hours doesn't really count as liking to eat, C!" Lance chuckled.
"I like to eat! I just... sometimes... you know... forget to..." JC blushed.
"You're priceless, C!"
"In a good way though, right?" JC smiled sweetly at Lance.
"In a great way, Josh." Lance smiled back before they got in the elevator.
***
Lance had been right, the food was great, not Diane Bass great, but very good nonetheless. And spending time with Lance has apparently become the best thing ever, judging by the permanent smile on JC's face. Lance's laugh was contagious and he had all this new space stuff to tell, and even if JC didn't really understand most of what Lance was saying, seeing the excitement in Lance's eyes made up for it. It wasn't every day Lance let himself go and acted his age, having grown up way too fast, and it was pretty amazing to watch that.
And if JC stared any harder, he'd burn a hole through Lance's beautiful face.
***
Two days passed while they visited the city and saw stuff they didn't really have time to visit on tour. Then Lance had to go back to training and he asked JC if he wanted to stay a while longer. As JC didn't really have anything to do back home, he decided to stay, that way he could learn more about what Lance was doing.
They had a great time and JC actually got to participate in some of the training activities (learning that he *really* didn't have the astronaut thing in his blood), until he had to fly to New York for the VMA's. So, the night before JC's flight, the two of them decided to spend the night pigging out on junk food and watching movies on cable all night long.
Some time in the middle of the night, JC was engrossed in the movie they were watching when he felt fingers brush his face and he realized they were Lance's. He also realized he had been crying and Lance's fingers were brushing a tear away and for some reason that made him feel even worse, "Some people are just destined to have the lousiest love lives, huh?" JC whispered as he hugged his legs closer to his body, watching Jennifer Lopez break down in front of Matthew McConaughey.
"You're not one of them, Josh."
"You're right, a love life can't be lousy if it's non-existent. God, Lance, I feel so lonely," JC breathed out, trying to keep himself under control but failing.
"C'mere," Lance whispered as he pulled JC in his arms, resting his cheek on top of JC's head, "I know how you feel and I don't really think anything else I say is gonna help but whenever you're feeling like this, I want you to come and talk to me, OK?" Lance whispered as he rubbed JC's back with his right hand and held him close with his left arm, JC's own arms resting loosely around Lance's waist, "It's gonna be OK..."
"OK..." JC whispered as he wiped his cheeks with his right hand but staying in Lance's embrace, "I'm sorry..." he breathed out, "I'm just so confused..."
"About what? Is it Justin?" Lance asked gently, afraid he might scare JC away.
"Somewhat. A little bit of it, I guess. I... it's just... you... you mind it if we don't talk about that? Just... just hold me like this... please..."
"OK..." Lance whispered as he hugged JC tighter, feeling JC shake with the force of the sobs wracking his body. He hadn't seen JC break down like this since the night he had found out about JC's love for Justin and it wasn't a pretty sight. Seeing JC's eyes so empty, feeling JC's body shaking so much it seemed like he was freezing... it was scary to say the least. After a few minutes, he felt JC calm down but he didn't move away so Lance was happy to just hold him for as long as JC needed him.
"You smell good..." JC murmured as he nuzzled Lance's neck softly.
"Thanks... JC, what-" and whatever Lance had to say ended as a moan when JC kissed right above Lance's collarbone. He didn't know what had possessed JC but the kisses along his neck felt so good, it had been so long since anybody had touched him and he had waited for this for so long that he decided to just forget it all and go along, "Josh..."
"Hmmm?" JC murmured as he lifted his head and their noses were nearly touching, their eyes locked on one another. God, so green... He just needed to bend his head a little and lean closer and, oh... yes...
Lance moaned deeply before deepening the kiss, praying that whatever was happening didn't just stop and he found himself waking up from this in bed alone. And then, as if his prayers had been answered he felt JC move, straddling his thighs, pressing their bodies closer, not once breaking the kiss. The kiss was only broken when JC leaned down, trailing kisses along Lance's neck and, God, that felt so good, "Josh..."
And just as suddenly as it had started, it ended when JC pulled away, jumping off of his lap, staring at him wide-eyed as Lance swallowed thickly, still feeling the tingling sensation on his kiss-bruised lips, trying to get his heart to stop beating that loud. He hadn't meant to get carried away like that. He was so used to keeping himself under control, he should have handled that differently, not just going along with JC, who was obviously not OK, "I..." Lance started as he stood up, "I think maybe I should go..." he completed as he walked to the door.
"Lance, I... I didn't know..."
"I know, C. Have a good flight tomorrow." Lance smiled sadly and went out the door, leaving JC alone sitting on the floor.
And he really hadn't known. If he'd known that Lance was in love with him, he wouldn't have done that.
TBC...
The movie scene mentioned in this part is from "The Wedding Planner", starring Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey.
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