Hi everyone...
Wow...people are actually reading my stuff. Thanks for the positive responses. -- I'm even a nominee for some slash-fiction awards! Vote for me please!!!! (http://jump.to/nsync_stories or http://www.geocities.com/sasha02.geo/award.html) I'm nominated in the Best Joey story' and Best Slash Fiction'.
As always, Gabriella and Mike and Charlie are my main cheerleaders. 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!!
DISCLAIMER: 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)
--The Lottery Winner Ch 16--
"Hey Joe. Looks like our boy is awake." Joey didn't say anything, just looked at Chris for a second.
"Chris, could you keep an eye out please. I need a minute alone with Dale."
Uh oh...this isn't good.
Chris left without a backward glance, closing the door behind him. As soon as the door was shut, Joey was across the room and in my arms.
"God Dale. I was so scared." He gently kissed me, as if he was afraid to hurt me. I wrapped my arm around him and pulled him tight. I kissed him back, tenderly at first then with more passion. I used my tongue to open his lips and I kissed him more passionately. We were holding tightly onto each other, tears streaming down both of our cheeks...when we heard the door open. Joey started pulling back from me, when we recognized the voices of Chris and my mom.
"Aw look Chris...apparently things are just fine here. It's okay boys, don't mind us."
Well, I always do what my mom says. So for the next few minutes we just held each other. He sat there for a second after that, stroking my cheek with a finger while just staring into my eyes.
"Dale, I thought I'd lost you. I didn't want to think the worst...do you know how hard it is to put on a smile for the whole world when you're dying inside?. Thank God for your mom. She kept me sane." He went and grabbed a chair and pulled it to my bedside. "You made the news. GLAAD is trying to say it was a hate-crime."
"Probably not after the guy who tried interviewing me gets back to the office. About that...did your names come up? I don't want you to get in trouble with your management or something. I can only imagine the headlines. `Nsync members victims of a gaybashing. Lord, the girls would pass out in droves."
Chris spoke up. "Don't worry about that Dale. We worked it out with the police before we left to get back on the road. Our names were kept out of the news reports, all they said was that you had friends in the car and their names weren't being released. I'm sure the cops are catching flack for it, but they're being good."
Joey squeezed my hand. "I just wish that I could have stayed with you. Do you know how hard it was to fly to San Diego? At first I wouldn't go, then when they finally got me on the plane I cried the whole time. The attendants probably thought I was dying or something." Joey looked so sad when he said that, Chris began telling me about how off the San Diego show was because Joe was so out of it.
"Hell Dale, even Lance and I weren't totally focused because of the whole thing. JC and Justin were pissed that it'd happened."
"Gee Chris, next time I'll make sure to not drive into a carjacking so they're happy. Fuckers!"
Joey lightly smacked my arm. "Dale, that wasn't what they meant. They were just upset that it happened at all. Especially to you! They were worried about all of us."
I sighed, and ran my hand over my face, wiping off the tears. "Sorry baby, I guess I'm just still a little out of sorts."
"So where's everyone else? How bad is the scarring on my face. When can I go home? I hate hospitals." I pulled at the blanket on the bed and looked into his eyes.
Joey stroked my cheek with one finger. "I'll see what I can do babe." He got up and stretched. "I'm going to go call the others and see what they're up to. They wanted to be here but momma here said only two of us could dazzle you with our shining presence." He smiled at Chris and my mom, and I started laughing.
"Shining presence? Well alright for someone thinking they're all that." Chris giggled at my statement and sat in the chair next to mom. He leaned on her and promptly started nodding off. Mom just smiled and patted his shoulder. Joey walked out.
"Dale, I'm glad you met these guys. This is probably the happiest I've seen you in awhile."
"You're right Chris. We're good people." Chris then surprised me by getting up and hugging me. He whispered in my ear. "God Dale, you had him worried. I think that he would have died if anything had happened to you. But nothing happened. And now you and Joey can work on building the rest of your lives together. All I ask is I get to give you away when you walk down the aisle." He grinned impudently at me when he said the last thing, and he'd elevated his volume somewhat so mom could hear.
"Excuse me Chris? If anyone is giving my child away at the altar it's going to be me." Mom got up and gave him a pat on the back. "Nice try though. Dale, I'm going to go get a bite to eat, you want anything?"
"No thanks mom. I'm good for now."
She left, and it was just Chris and I. "Chris...I'm sorry."
"God Dale, for what?"
"If I hadn't been stupid enough to leave originally none of this would have happened. Joey came out to Johnny didn't he?"
"Yeah. Johnny wasn't exactly surprised about that. He was when your name came up though. I thought he was going to blow a gasket." My face fell as I heard that. Chris got up and began pacing. "Geez Dale, I'm sorry. He's not mad at you or anything, he just wishes that we had trusted him enough to tell him the truth."
I didn't say anything, just stared into space for a moment or two. Joey came be-bopping into the room soon after. He saw my mood and immediately glared at Chris.
"What'd you say to him?"
Chris just let out a small sigh. "I told him about our discussion with Johnny. I'm heading back to the hotel." Chris told me goodbye and headed out. Joey sat in the chair and just looked at me for a second.
"Dale, there's something we should talk about."
"Joey hand me a mirror."
"What?"
"My face feels like it's made out lead, and I seem to remember something hitting the side of my face, so I want a mirror. Please." I felt tears start to well in my eyes, I was scared about what I'd see. Without saying another word, Joey went and grabbed a small mirror out of his gym bag, and handed it to me. I felt my hands shake as I looked at my face for the first time since the carjacking.
Oh damn...
I started crying as I looked at myself in the mirror. I had a pattern of scars on the left side of my face from exploding glass. It looks like they shaved part of that side to put some stitches in at the hairline. What scared me was the small scar right next to my eye socket. If that piece of glass had been a little further to the right I would have had an eye full of glass. My upper body still felt stiff, and it hurt a little when I breathed too heavily. I'm a mess.
I handed the mirror back to Joey, and curled up on my side. I didn't want to face him right now. My body was racked by sobs...I'd been holding a lot in lately and once I'd started I couldn't stop. Joey got in bed behind me and held me in his arms. He rubbed my chest, and made quieting noises while holding me close to him. Finally, I began calming down. I fell asleep that way. Guess Joey did too.
Mom came a little bit later. She just smiled and took her seat in the chair, watching over us. Making sure no one hurt or disturbed her kids.
I was scheduled to go home the next day from the hospital. Getting out of this hospital was a lot easier than the other one. The doctor just told me that I had to be careful the next few days since I would probably have a headache that could melt iron. I didn't have to worry about coming in to get the stitches removed. They were the kind that would be absorbed by my body as it healed. The doctor prescribed some Motrin for my pain.
Some detective stopped by the hospital room before I went, taking my official statement on the incident. The man mentioned me coming down to the Police Station to identify the suspect in a lineup. Mom got all protective, I told him that I'd take care of it in a day or two. Right now the biggest thing I was thinking about was going home and crawling into my bed. I'd told the guys I didn't want them at the hospital when I got discharged. There was no cry raised about them being there...Hopkins is good about ensuring privacy. Joey wanted to be there for me, but I was adamant. No boyband members could be photographed with me leaving. With GLAAD getting on their `hate-crime' angle there was lots of press interest in me. Apparently it was a slow news week, and I didn't want to provide fodder for the Nsync trashers.
I was throwing some stuff into a gym bag that mom had brought me. I had cards from several people. I was looking through them now that I was vertical.
"Wow. Rosie O'Donnell sent me a card? Too cool!" I threw the other stuff into the bag and followed mom out of the room. She was going to be my ride home. We walked out of the front doors, and promptly ran into several reporters who were waiting outside for us. Mom just kept walking and kept saying "no comment" over and over. We finally got past them and into the parking deck.
I felt myself breathing heavily and starting to shake as we got closer and closer to mom's rental car. I stopped walking and leaned against the wall.
"Dale, are you okay?"
"Yeah mom...give me a second." I was having flashbacks to the jacking. I closed my eyes and fought back the tears. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. It's in the past, have to stop. I sat down on the concrete, and just breathed in and out. I felt mom's hand on the back of my neck.
"It's okay sweetie. Take your time. It's going to be hard for awhile." A few minutes later, I felt the panic level start lowering. I was able to get into the blazer with no further problems. There was a lot of traffic out, so it took us probably twenty minutes to get to my apartment.
Mom came up with me, so she could say goodbye to the guys. She had to get back to Montana, and her flight was leaving that evening. As she opened the upper door for me, she called out that we were there. There was a bunch of yelling and shouting coming from my living room. I threw my bag on my bed, and we went up and were treated to the sight of a pile of flesh on my living room floor.
"Take it back Justin!"
"Justin, I can't believe you said that! It was so rude!" JC was laughing so hard his face was red.
I started giggling. "Joey, what'd he say?"
"He said I have a big butt! Hey baby, how're you feeling? I can't hug you right now because I'm smacking J around. Give me a second?" Joey was sitting on Justin, who was face down on the rug. Joey began tickling him, and within moments Justin was laughing so hard he was nearly peeing his pants.
"God Joey, get off me. You're killing me." Smiling, Joey folded his arms across his chest. "Okay fine. I'm sorry." Satisfied, he got off of Justin. Joey then came over to where mom and I were standing. He gave mom a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, then took me into his arms.
"How are you doing baby?"
"Better now that I'm home with you. When do you guys have to get going again?"
"Once Johnny found out the truth, he rearranged a few dates for us so we could be here with you. But we do have to get back on the road. Do you feel up to flying to Florida? You could come recuperate at my place. I want you with me, but I don't think that you'll be quite up to life on the bus for awhile. It's enough to tax the healthy, and you're still recovering."
I gave mom a hug, and told her I loved her very much. She wanted to beat traffic to the airport, so she took off. Chris and JC walked her out. Joey sat on the couch, and I curled up next to him, resting my head gently on his leg.
//I looked up, and suddenly I'm facing the barrel of a gun. I try to move out of the way, but it seems like I'm moving in molasses. The gun fires. I feel the lead of the bullet slam into me. I try screaming but I can't. "Fucking faggot." Everything goes black.//
"NONONONO!" I sat bolt upright, pain shot through my body. The five guys are all sitting around me, looking at me with concern in their eyes. Joey's arm was around my shoulder.
"You okay Dale?"
I got up and left the room. I heard Chris tell Justin that it was a stupid question to ask. I went to downstairs and sat on my bed, crying. A few minutes later, Joey came down. He didn't say anything, just took my hand in his. We sat that way for what seemed like forever. Finally, Joey started talking.
"Dale, you have to listen to me. What happened wasn't your fault. No one here is blaming you. It's going to take time, but it will get easier to face things. I'm here for you. So are the guys. Hell, even Britney was going to come out when Justin told her what happened."
I let out an incredulous snort. "You're joking right? I thought she hated me."
Joey stood up and pulled me into his arms. "God I love you. How could she hate you? You were the first person she'd met in a long time that didn't start out by kissing her ass. She likes people who don't put her on a pedestal."
"Joey. If I get Dan to keep an eye on the cat...can I really go to Florida and stay at your place? It would be nice to have a change of scenery." He smiled and kissed me softly. His kisses became more intense, I moaned from the sensations coursing through my body. His hand ran it's way slowly down my body, opening my pants and gaining access to my dick.
"Joey, the guys are right upstairs...and they're not even asleep. Come on babe. Please be good." He stopped kissing me and wiggled an eyebrow at me.
"Dale, I'm always good. You know that." I smiled and kissed him on the lips.
"Come on hon, let's head back upstairs." He gave a happy giggle and pulled me up the stairs after him. The guys were all gathered in a huddle when we got back up there, and broke up when we came in. They tried looking innocent and failed miserably.
"Okay...what're you guys up to? Oh lord, you're not planning on taking over the world or something insidious are you?" I had to smile as I said it. JC and Chris looked at each other and let loose with maniacal laughter.
"He's seen through our plans! Conquer the world through the children. We must take care of him so he doesn't say a word."
I started laughing at the start of their talk. By the end I was in stitches. Especially seeing Chris doing his impression of an evil dictator. He was raising an eyebrow and lunging at the other guys. Joey cleared his throat.
"Guys. Dale is going to stay at my place in Orlando when we head back on the road. So we have to get his stuff gathered up. Lance, give Dan a call and let him know he's got to keep an eye on the cat. Just, go next door and let his landlord know that he's going to be gone at least a month. JC, could you please call his attorney and let him know? Chris, could you please call and get Dale a ticket to Florida when we fly out to head back?" Joey stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. He nuzzled the side of my neck briefly.
Chris just stared at Joey for a second, then broke into a huge grin. "Wow. Okay, who are you and what have you done with our Joey? You heard him boys, let's get Dale ready to come with us." They all dispersed, and it took them a second to realize that Joey and I weren't doing anything. Chris stopped and looked at us. "And just what are you going to be working on Mister Fatone?"
Joey grinned broadly and hugged me tight. "Well if you must know it's my job to keep a smile on this face and make sure that he never forgets how much I love him."
A chorus of "aw's" greeted that. I felt my face flush. Chris giggled and went off to find a ticket for me to go with them when the guys flew to Orlando before resuming tour.
"There is one thing that you're going to have to do for me down there Dale. We have to go meet with Johnny. He's got some stuff to talk with us about."
"God Joey, how are we going to work this out?" I turned in his arms, and looked into those eyes of his. He grinned at me, and he had a mischievous spark in his eyes.
"We have each other. We also have a great group of friends and your moms. Speaking of parents. Do you want to meet mom and dad?"