Lottery Winner

To Hi everyone...

In order to accommodate people who are asking me about notification lists, I've finally created an YahooGroup (Gods, Yahoo is like the Borg!) to do so: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Dale_writings ****** As always, Gabriella is my main cheerleader. Mark has also been great. I've even inspired him! Check out his story "Blind Date", it's also here in the Boyband section.

I'm a bit nervous--so if people could please e-mail me at bwicub@hotmail.com--I'd really appreciate it. I love e-mail!!

My story is hosted on another website. Here's it is: http://railwayshoes.net/hosted

It's partway down the site, just look for "Lottery Winner". There's lots of other great stories there so check them out.

DISCLAIMER: The names of the people are fictional (well, except for the members of the group). This is a fictional story that came right out of my own mind. I have no knowledge if any member of N Sync are gay or whatever. That being said, please enjoy the story and remember-- write me!!! (Especially write me if you're a member of the group! GRIN)

Thanks guys and gals, Hope you like it.

Dale

--THE LOTTERY WINNER...Ch 46--

Chris looked into her son's eyes... and saw fear. "Dale, you got sick. The doctor told me that your memory may not work right when you woke up. You know these guys. You've known them for awhile now."

Dale just looked around the room. "I don't remember. What made me sick? Oh god mom, what's wrong with me?" His mom took his hand and sat down. She began telling him about the surgery and what it had been for. Dale closed his eyes and started crying. After a few minutes he tapered off and fell asleep. Chris brushed her hand across his brow, then sat back and looked at the guys in the room.

"Okay, that could have gone better. Joey, are you okay?"

Joey didn't say anything for a minute, just sat there staring at the ring on his hand. Finally he spoke. "He doesn't remember any of it. Is he going to get the memory back?" Joey's voice broke as he looked up and into Dale's face. Lance took Joey's hand in his, giving it a squeeze.

Dale's mom put on a brave face for the guys. "Dale's a fighter, always has been. He'll get back what he can't remember for the moment. The important thing is we can't let him get depressed about it. You guys need to make an appearance at your hotel. If you don't then people are going to start questioning what's going on." She took off her glasses and massaged her eyes. "When is the concert?"

Lance got a pen out and wrote some info on a piece of paper. "Here Chris, it's the itinerary for the next forty eight hours. We have a final round of interviews tomorrow then we do a final run through before the concert, which starts at eight. Once we finish we'll have a final night at the hotel before we're scheduled to get back on the bus to return to Orlando."

Christine turned to look at Joey. "Promise me something. No matter what, you go back on the bus."

"WHAT? No way in hell Chris! I'm staying here with Dale."

Dale had told him repeatedly to not piss off his mom, but Joey forgot all about that advice.

"Goddammit listen to me you ignorant bastard. Dale has NEVER lost sight of the fact that he has to protect your secret from the outside world. You will NOT out yourself to the world by refusing to leave his side." She sat back down and crossed her arms. "Have you ever given ANY thought to what he has to go through in order to be with you? He can never tell anyone except those people he trusts, and he can never be too open about it... no pictures at work, nothing that everyone else in the world gets to do." She stood and walked over so she was standing right in front of Joey. "If you really do love him, then put yourself in his shoes once in awhile." Pulling him into a hug, she kissed his cheek. "My son loves you, and I know you love him. But there's times where you have to not think with your heart but with your head." She brushed a tear off of his cheek. "It's never easy, but for love it's worth it."

Joey didn't say anything, just pulled her into a hug. Finally, she broke away. "Okay, you guys go. I'll stay here and keep an eye on him. Mark can keep me company." The men of N'Sync slowly left to head back to their hotel. Once they were gone, Mark and Dale's mom began exchanging stories again. Dale woke up again around ten.

"Mom?"

"Dale. How're you feeling?"

Dale pulled himself up a bit. "Why does my head hurt?"

Chris began explaining again about the surgery. Finally after a few minutes Dale said he remembered. Chris then asked him what the last thing was he remembered.

Dale sat silently a few minutes, finally he almost shouted, "Mark! I remember talking to Mark."

"What were we talking about Dale?"

Dale thought about it. "I... I don't remember." A tear ran down his cheek. "It's weird, I remember you but don't remember how we met."

"Oh that's easy Dale. We both are in the same fraternity."

"Fraternity? We went to school together?"

Mark smiled. "No. I'm from the Phoenix chapter of the fraternity and you're from the Baltimore chapter."

"Oh." Dale pondered this briefly. "Is it one of those frats that does nothing but womanize and drink or is it a service fraternity."

"Womanize? Not exactly Dale. It's a gay fraternity."

"Oh. So you're gay?" The way Dale said it, it was obvious that he was putting something together.

Mark looked at Chris, and once he saw the nod he continued. "Yeah Dale, so are you."

"I am?" He thought about it, then continued. "I am. Okay. Do I have a boyfriend?" Suddenly Dale screamed and grabbed his head.

"OHMYGOD"

Mark slammed his hand onto the call button for the nurses. Dale stopped flopping on the bed, and lay there breathing heavily. Nurses came in at a run.

"What is it? What's going on?"

Chris told them about Dale screaming and grabbing his head. One of the nurses pulled out a penlight and checked Dale's eyes.

"Mister Wright? What happened?"

"Blood. I remember blood. All over my hands. I remembered it when I said boyfriend." He looked at his mom. "Why do I remember blood on my hands mom?"

She patted his hand. "It's complicated Dale. Why don't I fill you in when you're more rested."

"I'm fine mom. What is it?" The nurses made a notation into Dale's chart then left the room.

"Not now young man. You know that I'm just as stubborn as you. Where do you think you got it? You just rest. We'll talk later." Dale could tell she wouldn't budge, so he gave in and fell asleep.

Around eleven she told Mark to call it a night. She was going to stay at a hotel down the street, so he could go ahead and head home. She told the nurses at the front desk that she'd call with her number at the hotel in case something happened during the night.

Mark offered to give her a ride to the hotel, but she said no. "I just need some time to myself. I have your number, so I'll call if something happens."

Suddenly, Mark felt very lonely. He dialed a number on his cell phone. "It's me."

"Come on over."

Twenty minutes later he was knocking on a door. The door opened, and a slightly disheveled Lance Bass was standing there. He didn't say anything, just pulled Mark into the room.

Once the door was closed they hugged tightly. Lance gently kissed Mark, then led him over to the bed.

Once they were in the bed, Lance pulled Mark into his arms. "It's okay Mark. Sleep, I won't let anything happen." A few seconds later, Mark let out all the frustrations of the day.

He fell asleep after a good cry. Lance wiped his tears and then held him tightly. Once he was sleeping, Lance kissed his cheek, then snuggled up and went to sleep on his own.

Lance woke Mark up after he got out of the shower the next morning. "Mark, do you want to go with us or do you want to go back over to the hospital?" Mark stretched to alleviate the stiffness in his joints.

"Well, she hasn't called yet... so I guess that's a good sign. I'll go ahead and go back over to the hospital. What time do you guys have to be at the arena?"

Lance undid his pants and tucked in the shirt. "We have to get there at three for final run through. I'll tell security to put you and Chris both on the VIP list so you can come in if you need to."

Someone knocked on the door, they came in after Lance called out it was okay to. The door slowly opened and Joey came in. He looked like he hadn't slept in days.

"We're heading out now, you ready?"

Mark couldn't believe how bad Joey looked. "Joey, are you going to be okay?"

"I'm fine. You going to the hospital?"

"Yeah. Just have to swing by my place and change."

"That's good." Joey looked uncomfortable for a second, then gamely went forward. "What happened after we left last night?"

"Well..." Mark noticed that Lance was watching him too. "Dale's mom and I talked to him for a bit. He remembered me, but not how we'd known each other. He had a flash of a memory that from what his mom said was after he escaped from Lonnie." Mark went and got a soda from the honor bar. "His memory loss doesn't really have any rhyme or reason. He seemed to remember that he was gay, but didn't remember that he had a boyfriend." He noticed Joey's face fall. "Joey don't even start. He'll get back the memories... all we can do is love him and be there to support him. Don't lose sight of what you guys had and still have." Mark pulled him into a hug, Joey tried fighting away briefly then gave in.

"I know you're right Mark... it's just hard." Joey smiled softly at him. "You realize of course that it's going to be impossible to be productive today." He let out a snort. "I'm not even in the mood to sing tonight. ME!"

"Maybe that'll mean the fans pay attention to the rest of us instead of you." Lance threw a pillow at Joey, catching him in the stomach. Lance smiled so Joey knew he was just teasing.

"Yeah whatever blondie. The girls all drool over you and you know it."

"Girls? Ew. No thank you."

The two band mates said goodbye to Mark as he left to change. Mark promised to call once he knew what was going on...

An hour later, after a shower and a change of clothes Mark felt much more charitable towards the world. He was actually whistling as he walked in the front door of the hospital.

Chris wasn't in Dale's room when he walked in, but Dale was sitting up watching TV.

"Hi. Mark, right?"

Mark smiled and nodded. "Where's your mom?"

"She went somewhere with the doc to talk about something." Dale took a sip of water and went back to watching TV. It was some local news show, and they were talking about the upcoming concert that the guys were putting on.

Partway through footage from the video of the guys singing "Bye Bye Bye" Dale flipped the channel away.

"Why'd you change the channel Dale?"

"It's just some stupid concert. I mean please... a concert for charity? All the money will probably go to line the pockets of the artist and the charities who need the money like YGS won't get hardly any money."

Mark did a double take. "YGS? Dale, how did you know that YGS was one of the charities, the news cast didn't say that! Oh my god... did you remember that?"

Dale's mom had walked in partway through the statement, as soon as she heard the phrase 'remember that' she smiled. "Dale remembered something?"

"Yeah, I think he remembered organizing the concert."

"I did what?" Mark and Dale's mom stopped talking and looked at Dale.

Mark sat in the chair and looked at Chris. After seeing her slow nod, he cleared his throat and looked at his friend. "Dale, there's some things that we have to remind you about."

Mark noticed a look cross Dale's face. It looked like fear. "Okay, I think."

Mark told him just about everything. About how Dale had won the lottery, and had arranged with the management company to get N'Sync to do a charity concert.

"Why on earth did I choose these guys? I mean, look at them. They're like the New Kids for Generation Y!"

Mark smiled at that. "Well, you're a pretty big fan."

"You're joking. I am? What else do I listen to?"

The two men sat and talked for a couple of hours. Dale's mom left to get some lunch, asking if they wanted anything. When she was gone Dale took hold of Mark's hand.

"Mark. Were we a couple? I keep getting this feeling that there's someone... is it you?"

Mark laughed. Dale's face fell at that.

"Well shit Mark. That was rude. You could have just said no." Dale pulled his hand away.

"Oh Dale, that's not it. You have a boyfriend, but it's not me. You have someone who thinks the world of you, and wants to spend the rest of his life with you."

"Really? Who is it?"

"I can't tell you that yet."

"WHAT? Why in the fuck not?"

"It's complicated. Now trust me, it'll all make sense soon. Now, put your TV on MTV and let's chat." Dale adjusted the TV so they could watch videos, and then started talking.

Mark told him some more about the past few months, being careful to not mention anything about Joey or the guys in the group other than Dale had met them when arranging the charity concert. Mark got excited when reminding Dale about his new job in Orlando.

In the middle of the talk Dale interjected about how Mark can live in his new house he bought. "Oh my god Mark, I remember buying that! I met with the decorator just before I flew out to... to... fuck, where... PHOENIX!"

The two friends hugged, and Dale was laughing. Suddenly, he stopped laughing.

"Lonnie."

Mark knew what was coming now. He tried sounding nonchalant though. "What about Lonnie?"

Dale suddenly looked unsure. "We dated, didn't we? Lonnie and I."

Mark nodded.

Dale lapsed silent for a bit... suddenly his face drained of all color. "Oh fuck." His eyes closed, and he started crying.

"What have I done... oh god, Mark."

Dale started crying again. He curled up in a fetal position on the bed facing away from Mark. The two friends were in the same positions when Dale's mom came back.

"I'm ba... what happened?" Mark got up, telling Dale that he'd be back, and had Chris follow him out.

"I think Dale's remembered what happened with Lonnie. You know, the kidnapping and what happened afterward. He mentioned Lonnie's name, then lost it."

"Oh." Chris went to her son's side and held his hand.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Dale sounded accusatory as he asked the question.

He pulled his hand away from his mother.

"About Lonnie? Well, I figured that if you remembered him you'd remember the background also. Now, what do you remember about him?"

It took Dale about twenty minutes to stammer out what he remembered. When it became clear that he wasn't remembering the entire history Chris decided to fill her son in on his ex, and all the hell that he'd inflicted on Dale.

Dale seemed to settle down after she finished telling him about Lonnie to fill in the gaps in his memory. Finally he asked the question that Chris had been dreading.

"So, why did I move from Baltimore to Orlando? LOKI! Oh my god mom, who's taking care of Loki?"

"Calm down Dale, Loki's fine. You put him up at a kennel before you left. Do you remember?"

"Oh yeah." Dale took a drink of water. "So, why did I move? Since I apparently won the lottery I'm guessing it wasn't for a new job."

"Well Dale, you moved down there to start a new phase of your life." Chris smiled to Mark as she said it.

Dale snorted. "Yeah, that tells me squat. What gives? Why won't you tell me anything about this boyfriend?"

He lapsed silent briefly. "Mom. Why do I remember waking up and seeing those guys I saw on TV today?"

Mark's phone started ringing. "Hello?"

"Hey Mark, it's Lance. How's it going?"

Mark smiled at Dale and his mom before answering. "Surprisingly well, all things considered. How about with you guys?"

"Not hundred percent, but okay. Joey wants to swing by and see Dale and Chris before we go to the arena. What do you think? Good or bad idea?"

Mark excused himself and went to the bathroom for privacy. "Well, Dale's memory has started slowly coming back. He still doesn't remember about him and a certain opinionated and stubborn Italian. It should be okay, just make sure that no one says anything. We'll get him back to normal eventually hon... don't worry about it. So, about half hour?"

"More like forty-five minutes. We can't stay long since we have to gear up for tonight."

"Okay. See you shortly." He hung up and went back to Dale's room. Dale and his mom were talking about family stuff.

"Wait, let me see if I remember right. I'm gay... you're gay. I have one brother who has an ex-wife and a kid. Your side of the family lives out in California but I don't talk to them."

"Yep. Do you remember the last time you traveled?"

"Oh sure mom. I flew up to Baltimore with a group of people for a special dinner. It was really special."

She fidgeted a bit in her seat. "Do you remember, um, who you flew up with?"

He sat silently for a bit, and finally Dale relented. "No. My head's starting to hurt a bit though. Is it okay if I nap for a bit?"

"Not too long!"

Chris turned to look at Mark. He blushed and began stammering. "That is, try and get a little sleep. We may have visitors shortly." She nodded in understanding.

"Get some sleep Dale."

"Dale?"

"Dale, wake up. You have guests."

Dale slowly came awake, and saw a bunch of guys around his bed.

"Ungh. Water." Mark handed Dale a glass of water. After a couple of swallows, Dale scooted himself up on the bed and looked around.

"Um. Hi."

None of the guys said anything for a second. Finally Joey broke the silence. "Hi Dale. How're you feeling?"

"Okay I think. So, you guys are N'Sync aren't you? I'm Dale. Well, I guess you already knew that."

Dale and the guys talked for a few more minutes. Lance mentioned the concert, and asked Dale what he remembered about it.

"See the reason I ask Dale is we were going to introduce you on stage."

"Oh god, don't do that!"

Justin and Chris from the group started laughing. "Geez Dale. Love you too."

"It's not that. I just don't feel like trying to recover what is apparently still missing from my life and deal with questions from people I don't even know about the concert. It seems like it'd be easier to just not even talk about it. So, since I apparently have met you guys before could you refresh my memory who's who?"

Dale noticed the blonde one grab the big Italian looking guy's shoulder and squeeze it. He thought the Italian was kind of cute, but didn't want to say anything in case they were straight or had issues with him being gay. After the round of introductions Dale said their names again to himself so he'd remember.

Something seems so familiar. Dale looked at Lance, and felt himself blush. Lance looked at Dale and saw him blushing. Lance decided to fish for info.

"So, Dale. Have they told you when you'll be going home?"

"No one's said anything to me... but then again I'm just the one with a hole in my head."

Lance didn't laugh.

"Hello... hole in the head. Geez, tough room." Dale glared at him, then stuck out his tongue. "Don't make me dye your hair or something Scoop."

Several heads snapped around. "You remembered Lance's nickname?"

The five guys all started talking excitedly. Finally Dale let out a roar "SHUT UP!" As soon as he did it he grabbed the sides of his head and groaned.

"Dale!" Joey rushed over and grabbed Dale. "Are you okay?"

Dale stiffened in his grasp. After a second he pulled away from Joey. "I'm... um, I'm fine. It just hurt when I yelled."

Dale's mom sensed tension building, so tried breaking it. "Dale, do you want me to see if the doctor will okay you going to the show?"

"What? Mom get real. They wouldn't let me go anywhere this soon. Besides, I'm in no condition to go anywhere with my memory all fucked up"

"I don't know about that Dale. Yeah the procedure was intense, but it wasn't THAT bad. They'll probably okay you for release in the next day or two. Besides... you're remembering a lot of stuff, so that means you'll get the rest of your memory back I'm sure. I'm going to be asking the doctor if we can get released from here so you can go home and I can get back to Debbie."

Joey didn't seem too happy about that. "Who's going to keep an eye on Dale and make sure that things are going okay."

Dale spoke up. "Are you offering to play nursemaid?" He smiled as he said it. "Thanks for caring Joey but I have a big new house that Mark can come stay in when he first gets to Orlando for his new job."

"You, uh, bought a new house Dale?"

Joey tried sounding nonchalant when asking the question, but it was obvious to everyone in the room that there was a reason why he was looking upset. Dale began telling him about buying the house and meeting with decorators just before flying out to visit Mark.

"So, do you remember what motivated you to buy it and move out of your other place?"

Dale was taken aback by the question. "You mean my place in Baltimore?"

"No, your place in Orlando." Lance abruptly pulled Joey from the room, excusing himself to everyone. Dale turned to his mom for an explanation, but she had none.

A few minutes later, Joey and Lance came back in. Joey was looking upset about something. He stood in the corner and glared at everyone.

Conversation continued for a while longer, but nothing major was brought up.

Finally the guys said they had to leave to get ready for the concert. Lance stretched, and asked Mark if he was coming with.

"Sure. Hey Dale, is it okay if I come by after the show? Dale?"

Dale had fallen asleep in bed. The guys all tiptoed out of the room; Dale's mom came out behind them and closed the door. Mark shook her hand, and told her she can call his cell if anything happened in the next few hours.

"Sounds good Mark, I'm going to head out to get a bite to eat then go get some sleep. I'm tired." As soon as Chris was out of earshot the guys began pulling Mark towards their car.

"Why didn't you tell me you were moving to Orlando Mark?" Lance looked hurt.

"I don't know... just didn't think about it. I mean, the whole thing with Dale coming into town then acting strange and then this happened. I felt it was inappropriate to think about my new job and the move to get there." Mark looked over at Lance. "You mad?"

Lance sighed as they headed to the Ford Expedition they were using for transportation. "No, I'm not mad. I just wish we all knew what was going on with Dale. Hey, did you know before today that he had bought a house in Orlando?"

"Yeah, he told me the day he got here when we talked about my moving there for the job." Mark turned to look at Joey. "I take it this was news to you?"

"Yeah it was Mark." Joey put his seatbelt on and looked out the window. "Yeah it was." Chris got behind the wheel and the group headed to the concert.

At a little after ten at night, Mark was feeling tired. He'd spent the past few hours jumping up and down and screaming during the concert. Chris and JC had thanked the crowd for coming out, and pointed out that they had raised a great deal of money for charity, and it was the privilege of the group to take part in the great cause.

As the crowd dispersed, Mark worked his way backstage. Holding up his VIP pass, he meandered back to where the guys were showering and changing back into normal clothes.

"Hey guys, GREAT SHOW!" Suddenly an arm snaked out of a shower and pulled him in. "FUCK, water!! Hello!!" He was now drenched. Lance was standing in front of him, laughing and totally naked. Mark had to admit... he looked good.

"Sorry Mark, couldn't resist." Lance then leaned in and gave him a quick kiss, which rapidly turned intense. Mark broke away as he heard someone clearing their throat just outside the shower they were in.

"Hello?"

"MARK? What in the hell are you doing in there?" Mark then heard footsteps as Chris walked away.

"Shit Lance. I think he wanted to talk to you about stuff. I'm sorry."

"I'm not." Lance practically growled it as he pounced on Mark. For a few seconds Mark let himself get pawed by Lance... but he finally pulled himself away.

"Dammit Lance think about what you're doing."

"What do you think I'm doing?"

"You're using me to make Chris jealous and I don't like it." Mark grabbed a towel off the rack and left, drying himself off. He threw the towel on the back of a couch and plopped down.

"Hey Mark, how'd we do?" Mark looked up and saw Justin standing there.

"You guys always put on a great show. Noticed you grandstanding to the crowd though." Mark giggled as he said it, so Justin knew he was just teasing. Mark saw Chris walk around the corner. "Hey Chris."

"Fuck off Mark." Chris stormed out of the room without looking back. A few seconds later Justin's cell phone started ringing.

"Hello? What's up with you? Oh. Okay. I guess I'll see you later." Justin hung up the phone and threw himself onto the couch opposite Mark. "Okay, what'd you do to Chris?"

"Huh?"

"Think about it Mark. He storms out of here telling you to fuck off. Then calls me from the goddamn hallway to tell me he'll meet us back at the hotel. So, what'd you do?"

Justin finally realized that Mark's clothes were wet. "Why in the hell are your clothes wet?"

Almost as soon as the sentence left his mouth, Lance got out of the shower and padded across the room to change. Wrapped only in a towel, Mark couldn't help but notice him. Once Lance had walked through the door to his changing area, Justin laid in to Mark.

"That explains that. Mark what were you thinking? Has Lance bothered to tell you about the whole thing with him and Chris?"

Mark shook his head no.

"Okay, come on. We're going to the hospital. We can talk on the way. LANCE, JOEY!!!" The two friends poked their heads out of their respective changing rooms. "I'm going for a drive with Mark over towards the hospital. You guys all head back to the hotel and I'll see you there in a few hours."

Joey protested that he wanted to go see Dale, but Mark overruled him. "Joey, don't worry. I'll call you if anything major happens. If I talk to Dale tonight and it looks like he's going to remember you I'll start the ball rolling. Don't worry, I won't tell him anything bad." He cracked a grin as he said it.

"Fine Mark. But remember, soon you're gonna be living in the same town, so if you upset me I'll know where you live. I'm Italian. You don't want to upset Italian families."

Mark laughed as Justin led him out the back of the arena. "Hey Mark, what section did you park in?" Mark told him and then they were driven over by security. As Mark got behind the wheel of his Jeep Justin told him to drive slow.

"There's a lot to cover."

An hour later Mark slowly got out of the Jeep after parking in the lot at the hospital. "Jesus Justin, I don't know if I should feel guilty for being attracted or if I should smack Chris for walking all over Lance's emotions."

"I know Mark. JC and I have talked about it and we're totally convinced that Chris will eventually decide to come out of the closet... but we just don't know when."

"Justin you can't expect me to not take an interest in Lance because there's an off chance that Chris will pull his head out of his ass and see that there's a man right there who he can be happy with."

"They're both my friends Mark. I don't want to see either of them get hurt.

Be good to Lance."

The two of them lapsed into silence as they walked through the hospital entrance. The security guard tried stopping them, but relented after seeing Justin. About twenty autographs later they were at Dale's room.

"Wow. Dale's still awake." The two of them went in, and said hi to Dale.

"Oh, hi. Justin right? Mark, how was the concert?"

"Awesome like always. The guys put on a great show."

"That's cool. Well, mom talked to the doctor."

Mark sat down. "About what?"

"I'm transferring to Orlando for outpatient care. I'm going home."