Well, it had to happen sooner or later. After reading so many of the stories here, I got inspired to write my own. This is my first time, so be gentle.
Other authors have infuenced me. I have taken a bit from them. I hope I will do them credit. Kevin, you have inspired me. This is my work. I hope I do not copy too much from you. And I hope that the spirit you have shown is still there.
This is a work fiction. It is a nicer word than a pack of lies with a few facts mixed in. It is not meant to imply anything about the people involved with this story, their real lives or their real sexuality. These characters' actions are only the imagination of the author. (What power!) And he is alone responsible for story. To my knowledge, no one in NSYNC is gay, has ever been gay or will be gay in the future. And, yes, there will be sex. I have never written erotica before, so I hope it will be enjoyable to you. It will take a few chapters to get there, so please be patient.
If you cannot have gay role models in real life, sometimes, you have to invent them. This is a fantasy.
"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dream."
If the idea of two members of this group being lovers offends you, stop reading now. If not, go for it. I hope you enjoy the story.
Justin was looking out the car window as the lights of the city flashed by. He closed his eyes and rubbed them lightly with his fingers.
"I think I need to get my eyes checked." He blinked.
"Me, too." added Joey. "Every time I open them I can still see you."
Joey sure was hyper after the concert. It was usually Chris making the jokes. He was sitting silently looking out the window.
Justin continued, "All during the concert I kept seeing this multicolored blur."
"The price you pay for being in the spotlight." Joey smiled.
"Yeah, but this blur was moving around. Sometimes it seemed like it was over the audience and one time, I swear, it was so close I could almost reach out and touch it."
Chris shifted uneasily. He opened the cooler. "Do they have any water in here? I'm thirsty."
"Now that you mention it." All eyes turned to Lance. "During "I Drive Myself Crazy", I saw this glowing shape. It drifted in from the audience. It had almost reached us when Chris got up to move down stage. It looked like it barely missed you."
Chris grabbed a plastic bottle from the cooler. "I didn't see anything unusual."
"Is there anything to eat in there?" Joey leaned for the cooler.
"If it was that close, you'd think somebody else would have seen it too."
"When you're on stage, all you see is the audience." Lance chided JC. "When you're not singing with your eyes closed, that is."
Chris twisted the bottle cap. Water sprayed across the backseat.
"Chris!"
He grinned. "Sorry."
"What's the big deal?" Joey shut the cooler with disappointment. "This glowing shape stayed mainly in the audience. It obviously wanted to keep its distance. It was kind of pretty though. All those colors whirling and flashing."
JC looked incredulous. "You saw it, too?"
"Well, now and then. Sort of."
JC sighed. "Maybe is was a balloon or a beach ball or something."
"Maybe it was some kind of sprite. You know like a pixie or a fairy." Joey smirked at Lance. Lance stuck his tongue out at him.
Justin moved his finger pointing at Chris and Joey. "Did you two switch bodies?"
Chris closed his eyes. He couldn't believe this but he was getting fed up with this joking.
"It was a dude." He said softly. He took a drink from the bottle.
They all turned to Chris. "What?"
"A dude." Chris repeated. " You know, a guy."
Joey grinned, "Definitely a fairy then." JC glared at him.
"You're saying that this glowing thing was a man flitting around during the concert?" said JC.
"Probably had a good view," added Joey.
"Yeah. It's just that he was out of himself."
"You sure you're not out of your head?" teased Joey.
"No. Out of himself." Chris tried to explain. "You know, astral projection."
"You keep up this strange talk and I will project your astral right out of this car."
"If you would stop channeling Chris for a moment," snapped Justin. "Don't you read the rag sheets." He looked back at Chris. " You mean this guy was having an out of the body experience at our concert?"
"Right. His body was somewhere else. What we saw was his aural or mental energy."
Joey opened his mouth. Justin and JC turned and glared at him. He shut it again, smiling.
Lance looked thoughtful. "Energy? That's why the colors and the flashing?"
"Bingo," said Chris. "They say that the colors and the flashing show the person's emotional state. You know bright for happy. Dim for sad. Most of the time he should be invisible to us in that state. Either it was the darkness or he lacked the experience to fully..." He let it drop.
Silence.
"Well, I hope it doesn't catch on. It would really kill our ticket sales."
Justin started to pummel Joey.
Lance, use to ignoring the commotion was staring out the window. "I wonder what that would be like."
JC took Lance's hand. "Hey, babe. You're not going anywhere. Not without me. I won't let you."
Lance nestled closer to JC. "Nowhere else I'd rather be." JC put his arm around him.
He sighed. "I was just wondering. That's all." JC kissed him on the forehead.
"Ah, gees. They're at it again," groaned Joey between pummeling. "Wait! Wait!"
Justin stopped. "What?"
Joey was grinning. "Do you know what Queen Guinevere and JC have in common?"
Justin raised an eyebrow and looked suspiciously at Joey. First a fairy joke, now a queen joke?
"They both love Lancelot! Get it?"
"Joey, prepare for pain." Justin resumed his attack.
JC gave Lance a slight squeeze. He smiled down at him. "Finally, a joke I like."
Chris was looking out the window at the night sky. He wondered where that guy was now.
The car drove on to the hotel.
Something nudged JC out of his sleep. He could feel the warmth of Lance snuggled up at his side. He opened his eyes and scanned the room. Nothing. Maybe he was just imagining... No. There it was. A glowing Shape appeared out of the wall. It was more distinct now probably because of the darkness in the room. It was just as the others had described it. It had many colors lightly glowing and swirling around the form. It was vaguely human in shape with parts of it faded out and then reappeared. It hovered by the wall for a moment then slowly started to bob about the room.
Lance groaned slightly and shifted himself closer to JC. "Sh!" JC whispered into Lance's ear.
Lance turned his head a little. "What's up, lover? And please tell me its you."
"Sh." JC whispered back. "He's here."
"Who?"
"Our friend from the concert."
Lance lifted his head.
The Shape was moving toward the table by the window. It seemed to reach out to grab the table, but it passed right through it and vanished through the door of the closet. After a little time it emerged from the door again. It floated across the room. This time it reached for the chair. It managed a slight hold, but its grip slipped off sending it spinning into the bathroom.
Lance stifled a laugh. "Now we know why it was all over the place at the concert."
"Sh." JC pulled the covers back and stepped onto the floor. Lance started to do the same, but JC gestured for him to stay put. He crept cautiously to the bathroom door and peered in.
"Do you see it?"
JC jumped. "I thought you were to stay in the bed."
"Safety in numbers?" Lance smiled, looking back at him. Even in crisis JC couldn't say "no" to those eyes. He motioned Lance to follow and they entered the bathroom.
It wasn't there. JC felt a little relief. Maybe it was gone.
Lance tapped him on the shoulder. JC jumped again. "Will you stop doing that!" he hissed.
"But, baby." Lance whispered back. He pointed back toward the room. They peered out of the bathroom door.
The Shape was moving slowly toward the table again. This time it managed to stop itself. The colors changed more slowly now. It turned toward the bed. The bed was empty. The color change sped up again varying between dark and bright colors. It seemed confused. It scanned the room. JC felt Lance's fingers tighten on his bare arm as the shape turned towards them. JC tried to make a defiant stance in front of Lance.
The colors of the Shape began to change more quickly now. It seemed to Lance like it was nervous. Nobody moved. The minutes seemed to drag by.
"What should we do?" whispered Lance.
"How the hell should I know?" hissed back JC.
"Language, lover." Lance taunted back.
"Sh!"
Lance was feeling a little bolder. His fear was beginning to wear off. "We can't stand here in our shorts all night." The Shape shifted away slightly. Could it be it heard him and it was embarrassed? Lance decided to try something. "May I ask what you are doing here?"
The Shape reacted. The color change took on a flickering pattern. It raised what Lance supposed were its arms up to what Lance supposed was its face. The arms were visible in only a few places. If it had hands, they were completely invisible. It seemed to be checking itself. Lance caught the gesture.
"Yes, we can see you." The Shape became a frenzy of colors. It started to back away from them. "Please, don't be afraid, we won't hurt you."
"Hurt it!" JC snapped. "How do you hurt that?" The Shape kept backing away toward the window.
"Please, wait." Lance begged. "Who are you? What are you? How did you get in here?"
JC was getting mad. He stepped toward the Shape. "And what are you doing creeping about our bedroom in the middle of the night? I should call security!" The Shape stumbled backwards. It passed through the wall and window. It hovered outside the window for a second. It looked down, back up at them, then fell out of sight.
"JC!" Lance ran to the window. The Shape was no where to be seen. Lance turn around to JC. "Why did you do that? Couldn't you see he was scared?"
"He was scared!" JC countered. He walked to the bed and flicked on the light.
"I hope he's all right"
JC turned his head. "Him? My heart is still beating major time. But don't worry about me. I'll be fine." He sat down on the bed.
Lance walked over and sat down next to him. "I'm sorry. It's just the way he went. Falling like that."
JC put his arm around Lance. "I'm sorry, too. It's just I'm a little freaked out. Its not everyday you see a ghost."
"He wasn't a ghost." Lance corrected him. "Remember, Chris said it was his mental energy. You know Astral Projection." Lance looked toward the window. "Do you think he'll come back?"
"I doubt it." JC kissed Lance on the cheek. "Let's get back in bed."
Lance crossed to his side of the bed. They both slid under the covers.
"What was he doing here in the first place?" JC asked. He raised his arm and let Lance snuggled close.
"Maybe he is a fan." Lance laid his head on JC's chest.
"What does that have to do with it?" JC began running his fingers through Lance's hair.
"He was at the concert, right? So maybe he wanted to see if he could get a closer look at us."
"Good thing we were so tired after the concert, he would have gotten an eye full."
Lance's head popped up. "You don't think...?" He trailed off his face turning crimson.
JC smiled. "Nah. Besides you'd think he would have brought a camera."
"He probably dropped it earlier."
"Well, he certainly would have dropped it later."
"Thanks for dropping by." They broke into laughter.
JC grinned. "He reminded me of the cartoons when someone runs off the cliff. The way he looked down, at us and then "Aahh!" He dropped his hand to the bed. "I'd expect to see an outline in the pavement in the morning."
Lance frowned. "That's not funny."
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I know his departure bothered you."
Lance settled back "I don't know. I kind of felt sorry for him."
"That's my caring baby." JC changed the subject. "Come on; let's get some sleep. Big photo shoot tomorrow. Early!" He switched off the light.
Lance rolled onto his side. He felt JC snuggled up to him. He scanned the room one more time before closing his eyes. "I hope he is all right," Lance thought. He drifted off to sleep.
Peter opened his eyes. He was back in his room. He gave a sigh of relief. Damn, he hated heights! Even though he knew there was no danger this time, there was still the panic as he fell from that height. He wished he could learn to hover. Anyway, now he was home.
It wasn't bad for the third attempt. Not bad? It was dreadful. He needed to learn control. Especially stopping. True, he still passed right through solid objects. But, he still lacked the experience to keep from cringing. Waiting for the impact.
That time during the concert when he couldn't stop and floated onto the stage. Talk about panic! Mostly it was a fear of him being seen. But also he had never been through people before. He didn't know what the effect would be.
He was supposed to be invisible in this state. That other fiasco at the hotel told him different. Great! Now the two guys he really cared about would think he's some kind of ghostly peeping tom. Damn. This night didn't turn out well at all. All in all it had been a terrible week. It was so depressing. Why doesn't anything go right? Peter began to feel the tears forming. He choked them back. No. He wasn't going to go there.
He changed tack. At least he got to see them. During the concert and then after. Especially, after. He smiled. JC and Lance were his favorite two members from NSYNC. He had been lucky enough to spot the group entering their car for the ride back to the hotel. And miracles of miracles, he could actually keep up. Then when he had found his way to their rooms, there they were standing side by side. In their shorts. No. That wasn't important. He wished he could have brought a camera. His memory wasn't the best. But now he knew!
He got out of bed and crossed to the TV where the JC marionette hung on its post. Well, it was supposed to hang. Peter didn't like to see JC just hanging there so he had placed a box under the feet. Then arranged the doll so it leaned against the post. It looked much more comfortable that way.
"So JC it really is you and Lance. I'm so happy for you."
He wished he had purchased that Lance doll when he had the chance. Now they were all sold out. This JC he had cursed to be without the love of his life. He could relate.
Whoever had designed the doll's body had definitely been a muscle freak. He rubbed his finger across the doll's chest. Nice pecs.
What was he doing? Playing with dolls at his age? I am really sick! What an old pervert! He turned away.
Why was it that the groups he liked seemed to have such young fans? And girls fans at that. It was the same old story. He was always out of place. Isn't that why he went to the concert "that way"? So he wouldn't be seen. He was uncomfortable to be so much older than the rest of the fans. But he liked them and their music. That was nothing to be ashamed about.
He thought for a moment. Maybe he should get the Justin doll.
Unnoticed by Peter, a Shape had entered the room. This one however knew how to stay invisible. It floated completely around the room checking out the pictures on the walls and what was on the shelves. Suddenly its colors brightened. It had noticed Peter's record collection.
Peter sat back down on the bed. It was late and he was tired. He stretched out under the sheets. He propped three beaten and worn pillows up in a pile for his head. The fourth he placed on the empty half of the bed. He lay down on his side. He stretched his arm across the pillow in front of him.
The Shape moved away from the records and floated toward the bed.
Peter caressed the pillow gently. He remembered his first glimpse of JC and Lance in bed. (He had managed a brief glance before his encounter with that damn table and the closet door.) There had been a bright light blue glow around them. They had looked so beautiful together. "If only..." He sighed, maybe someday. He patted the pillow again.
"Goodnight, lover."
Why was he fooling himself? It would never happen. After all these years it should have been obvious to him. Why did he torture himself with this hope? "What are you thinking?" His mind railed at him. "You'll always be alone!" No. Don't. The tears started. He could feel the emptiness inside growing again. He hugged the pillow to him. The pain filled his heart and chest. "Who would ever want you!" Wave after wave of anguish filled him. Please, don't. "They are so beautiful and you are so..." Tears burned his eyes. Unattractive? "Ugly!" His body began to shake. Peter buried his face in the pillow, sobbing. No, please, stop. "You'll never know that kind of love!" His mind screamed at him. "Never!! It will never ever happen to you!!!"
The Shape's colors began to dim. Slowly it lowered itself toward the sobbed form. It lightly touched Peter's shoulder. It wanted to help. It concentrated. Its colors slowly began to brighten. It pulsed its color down around the shaking form. Slowly the sobbed subsided. Peter's breathing come more regular. He relaxed. Soon he slipped into sleep.
The Shape began to connect to Peter's emotions. All the emotions stored in Peter's mind. It sensed them. It wanted to know.
Later the Shape floated out of the room. It made its way to the front door and noted the apartment number. Quickly it followed the hall to the front door. It looked up at the house number. Then it moved the street corner. It remembered the street. With great speed it disappeared into the night.
The photo shoot was at the atrium of a large mall. An area had been decorated with fake palm trees set at different angles. They even had sand spread around to make it look more like a beach. Large spotlights were set up encircling the area. Security held the screaming girls at bay.
Peter watched from a distance. Not that he had much choice. The third floor on the far side of the atrium was the only place not occupied by the screaming fans. There was a break in the shooting. Justin, Joey and Chris were idly tossing a beach ball around. Lance and JC sat on producer's chairs in front of two of the fake palm trees just out of the bright lights.
One eager fan decided she could get a better view from one of the fake palm trees. She picked one of two palms bending toward each other in an upside down V formation. The tree wobbled as she climbed. A security guard noticed the would-be monkey and barked an order. The fan reluctantly dropped from the tree. The security guard went into a lecture about safety as the two walked away.
Peter, however, kept watching the tree. No one else seemed to notice. It was still wobbling from the dismount of the fan. It slowly rotated at its base and began to topple forward. It fell for only about a foot. It got caught in the branches of the other tree leaning toward it. Now the wobbling was transferred to the other tree. Peter could sense that the trees were not very firmly anchored and the added weight of the other tree wasn't helping. Below the trees was a line of large spotlights on tripods. These surrounded the area where photo shoot people were milling about. Peter felt the prickling of his skin.
There was a disaster in the making. But what could he do? Yell a warning? This far away all he could do is watch. If only there was a quick way for him to get over there to warn them. Then it dawned on him. But would he be fast enough? Please, let this work. He closed his eyes.
Chris was getting bored. He threw the beach ball to Joey. "This is daff."
"We're not forcing you to do this," replied Joey tossing the ball to Justin.
"If you want to quit, quit." Justin tossed the ball back to Chris.
Chris caught the ball. "Fine. I quit." He turned and started to walk away.
"Hey, what about the ball?"
Chris put on a haughty air. "Its mine now." He turned and strutted away.
"Fine, you're throwing like a wuss anyway," joked Joey. He turned to Justin laughing.
In a smooth motion Chris turned and lobbed the ball at Joey hitting him square on the side of his head.
"Hey!"
"One point for the wuss." Chris walked away.
"This waiting sucks!" Chris kicked at the sand.
"Comes with..."
"The job, I know." Chris finished JC's sentence. "It still sucks."
Lance nodded toward the sea of fans around them. "Do you think he's here?"
"I don't know. Could be. Probably in the flesh this time," answered JC.
"Who are you talking about?" questioned Chris.
Before they could answer the beach ball landed between them with Joey in pursuit.
"Oops. Sorry, guys."
Lance and JC exchanged a glance. "We had a visitor in our room last night"
Joey raised an eyebrow. "Really? Was he cute?"
"Not that kind," replied JC. "The glowing guy. You know the one from the concert last night."
"You're kidding!"
"Oh." Chris said, idly kicking at the sand. "What happened?"
"Nothing much. Just scared the crap out of us, bobbed around the room and fell out the window."
"He went through the window then fell," corrected Lance.
"Did he get to see anything?" Joey winked.
Chris rolled his eyes. "How daff." He muttered under his breath.
"No. We were asleep at the time."
"Too bad." Joey shrugged. "To get a look at you guys being all "chummy" was probably just what the old perv was there for."
Chris blew up. "He's not a perv!"
"Gees, take it easy. I was just joking." Joey walked away.
Lance looked inquisitively at Chris. "How do you know he wasn't a perv?"
"I just know." Chris paused. "If you guys wanted privacy, he wouldn't have been able to enter the room in the first place."
"Wanted privacy! It was the middle of the night and we were asleep! We weren't exactly sending out invitations!"
Lance put his hand on his lover's arm. "JC, calm down."
Chris suddenly straightened. He turned away. He could hear some slight kind of commotion, but he felt something worse was going to happen
Lance noticed Chris's sudden change. "What is it?"
"He's here." Chris said softly.
JC tensed. "You mean... him?"
Chris nodded.
Lance stood up scanning the crowds of people. "Where?"
"I don't know." Chris paused. "Something's wrong." He could just make out the faint red glow heading toward them across from the far side of the atrium.
Then the voice exploded inside his head. "Get them out of there! Danger!"
Instantly, Chris knew the danger. He spun around. The one palm tree could no longer support the other. It had started its fall toward the spotlights. Chris grabbed JC, pulling him to his feet. He pushed him at Lance. "Get back! Get out of here!" He took off running.
People starting screaming. Lance watched dumbly as the tree smashed into a spotlight setting off a domino effect. It crashed into another one tipping it forward.
JC turned and pushed Lance as hard as he could. "Go!"
Lance turned and ran a few paces. "What about JC?" he thought. He stopped and turned.
JC started to run when he slipped on the sand and fell. He turned over. The spotlight was tipping in his direction. There were trees on either side of him. He couldn't roll far enough to be in the clear. Arms and legs flailing madly he tried to get out of the way, but he kept slipping on the sand.
Lance watched in horror. "Josh!"
The spotlight was almost on top of him when JC moved. He shot across the floor, past a stupefied Lance and landed on a sand dune behind him. The spotlight crashed to the floor scattering shards of glass in all directions.
Lance rushed to JC's side. "Josh! You okay?"
JC was slowly trying to get to his feet. "I'm okay," he panted. "Knocked the wind..." He bent over gasping for breath.
Lance put his hand on JC's back, rubbing gently. That was too close. If anything would have happened to Josh. Lance wanted desperately to hold his lover in his arms, but there were people around. Damn them.
JC began to breathe easier. He straightened up. He saw the look on Lance's face. The same thoughts flashed through his mind. Screw it. He took Lance into his arms.
"That was close. You all right, bro?" he asked Lance, louder than was necessary.
"What do you mean me?" asked Lance.
JC whispered in his ear. "Just a little smokescreen for the crowd." He gave Lance another squeeze and winked.
"Clear the way! Let us through!" The rest of the guys pushed their way through the growing crowd.
"You guys alright?" asked Joey.
"Yea, we're fine. Just a little shaken," replied JC. He climbed onto a chair and smiling, waved to the crowd. A thunder of applause and screams rolled across the atrium. JC stood down from the chair and collapsed into it.
Justin patted him on the back. "Nice touch." JC smiled. "You had us a little worried there."
"You were worried?"
"Gees, JC. If you hadn't moved, you would have been flattened."
"Don't remind me, Joey."
JC glanced at Lance who was still shaking. JC brushed his fingers lightly against Lance's hand. Lance looked down at him. "Everything's okay now." JC whispered to him. JC flashed him a smile. Lance nodded and smiled back.
"How did you move like that?" asked Justin.
JC hesitated. "I didn't."
"What?" It came as a chorus.
"I was slipping on the sand. I wasn't going anywhere."
"You just got a good foothold and with the adrenaline..." Justin offered.
"No. It wasn't me." JC looked up at Lance. "Something pushed me out of the way."
The whole group looked around at each other.
Lance face ran pale. "Are you sure?"
"Very sure." JC paused. He didn't like the implication. But the facts were there. "Either that or I just set the indoor broad jump record. Backwards!"
There was an uneasy silence.
"I didn't see anything," said Justin.
"Me neither." Joey added.
Chris just looked away.
"I..." stammered Lance. "...sort of did."
"Sort of?"
"It came from over there real fast." He pointed across the atrium. "A kind of blur with different changing colors. I think mainly red. It was hard to make out. It happened so fast." He trailed off. He stared at the floor for a moment. He looked up to find JC staring at him. JC's mouth was opening and closing without making a sound.
"You don't mean...?" he finally managed to blurt out.
Lance sheepishly nodded his head.
"You think it was... him?"
Lance nodded again.
JC fell silent.
Chris clicked his tongue, annoyed. "Well, duh!" he said.
Somewhere in the crowd a security guard's radio beeped. "We have a man down. Third floor. South sector. Requesting medical assistance."
Chris looked across to the far end of the atrium. He could see a small cluster of people.
He whispered softly, "Hang in there, dude."
That's all for now. Let me now what you thought. My e-mail is pete1211@aol.com. I'm afraid I have never experienced astral projection, so it's artistic license and imagination here. If you have insights, I would like to know. Until next time.