Disclaimer: I don't know these people, nor do I know any of their business. It's all fake and plastic. The mad product of a delusional person's imagination. Today's chapter title comes from Standfast's "Carcrashes" and the featured song is from EBTG's "I didn't know I was looking for love 'til I found you."
Author's Notes: I'm rather disappointed by the amount of email I got from my last chapter, but some is better than none, right. I want to note that the convention mentioned in the chapter about the mock UN assembly is true. It happens every year around spring or autumn time in the UN building. It goes on for about a week with the culmunation of a 3 day assembly session. Most of the people who attend these are political science college students from all parts of the globe with ambitions of being in Foreign Affairs. It's fun, in a nerdish sort of way. I wrote about it because I was recently involved in the local version of it so they could pick delegates to go.
Anyway, I decided to put on hold my other story so I could concentrate on "Mad Season" for a while and to write a JC/Justin story that I have in the works. I've also decided to continue on with "Mad Season" because of all the flux input I've been having recently about it. Chapter 11 will be out by next week.
Ashley, wherever you are, please give me a line so I can talk to you about an idea of mine. Josh, continue working on that story of yours. Zarah and Shaun, thanks for the support. Matthew, break a leg, dude! You'll really need it. Jose and Sam, thanks for being there even if you guys are else where in the world.
Please pray for the soul of my friend Damien who shot himself last Friday. May he find happiness in where he is now than here on earth.
Finally, remember that all things are temporary. Only love is permanent.
God Bless and Godspeed, Dane
Mad Season by Dane Chapter 10 Carcrashes
2:18 A.M., Near La Guardia...
"Okay Carole, what do we have here?" asked a burly police officer to his younger female partner as he looked on towards the accident site of a taxicab and a delivery van. From a glance you can tell that the van hit the cab hard from back of driver side, forcing it to compact itself upon a telephone pole.
The young partner removed her hat and quickly tied up her curly red hair into a ponytail before answering her senior partner. "Jake, the van was reported stolen about an hour ago and its driver was removed from the site as drunk and unconscious with a major concussion. The cab driver made it out fine with only little scrapes and bruises, but his passenger is another story all together. She didn't have any luggage on her or any purse, only money, which was strange. One witness said she found her in the airport crying because some punk stole her purse and that she was quite lost. Being a Good Samaritan, the witness gave her some money just enough to settle her in New York for a day and a contact number so she could repay her the money."
"Nice girl. Too bad she won't be able to repay her for a while. What happened to the woman?" asked Jake. He opened a thermos that he was carrying to drink up the coffee that was in it. Nearly choking on the lack of sweetness to the brew, he swallowed it quickly as to not waste any precious caffeine. Carole looked at him and grinned in glib delight at Jake's expression. Jake waited for an answer and said, "Well."
Carole raised an eyebrow and reach out into their patrol car for the official report that was going to be filed later. "Dispatch said that she's being brought to Mercy to be treated for head injury and some broken ribs. She was still in a coma the last time I checked. Since no ID was found on her, I've requested that her dental records and maybe her fingerprints could be checked for identification. The witness really didn't remember her name so I told her to give us a call when she does remember."
Jake took the report from Carole and grimaced. "So we have a 'Jane Doe'? What does she look like?" Looking through he report, he quickly found the victim's description. "Green eyes, Brownish-blonde hair, 5'3 height, possibly form the south. Anything else we should know about" Carole led the way back to the accident site and Jake followed her pace.
"As of now, all we have to do is wait and see."
The partners continued on to get any last minute details before filing it in later in the end of the shift. Both of them thought of who could miss this woman. Surely she has some family somewhere.
Precinct No. 14, About Six Hours Later...
"JC is a crazy, fucked-up dumbass who should burn in hell," said Joey, sitting on a long bench in one of Manhattan's police stations along side Lance, Howie, and Christina. JC, the source of Joey's anger, was sitting a bit off in front of the desk sergeant, just waiting for the paper work to be signed for Justin, Chris, AJ, and Nick's release. Since earlier today, Joey has been in a really foul mood.
"Yeah," concurred Howie with the same fuming irritation.
Joey took little attention towards the systematic bustle of the station as cops come and go doing their jobs of preventing crime and arresting criminals. Despite the chill in the weather outside, the place was somewhat humid, and the noise of telephone rings sounded from practically every side. Men and women were everywhere, talking to officers about their complaints and cases against other members of society; as well as lawyers who go about defending their "client's rights". All this chaos just to provide order for the masses and their kin.
"What did JC do to you two anyway?," asked Lance to Howie and Christina; sensing that he was the only one among the four of them who didn't really have a big grudge against JC this morning. Well, he did feel angry at JC, just not enough at the moment to feel like retaliation.
Christina swung her head around towards Lance and saw the sour expression on her face. "The sonofabitch went into Howie's room without knocking, or anything, and took pictures."
"So?"
"So..... He took pictures of me and Howie half-naked and making out, without any blankets to cover us," she spited.
Lance's eyes went wide. "When did you guys hook up?," asked Lance, surprised.
"Last night, or early morning, I don't know exactly. We caught the last set of the band in the place were you work and Howie asked me to dance with him." Christina's face softened at the memory of that. "I don't really know what happened but we kissed and the rest was history. We left JC and Kelly together, and Ryan left with one of the ditzy waitresses with a skirt so short that bending would only show you how much beaver she has."
"Mel," Lance thought exasperatedly and rolled his eyes.
"Anyway, what did JC do to you and Joey, and why is he scowling so much?," asked Christina while Howie started to embrace her and laid his head down on her shoulders.
Lance looked at them for a moment and realized that they made a good-looking couple, complete with parallelisms and contradictions. It was like Howie was quiet, thoughtful, and darkly handsome; Christina was loud, spontaneous, and obviously beautiful. On another level, both had Half-Latino, Half-European lineages; and were sometimes extremely altruistic to a fault. As they continued in their cuddling, Lance gave out an involuntary sigh.
"Lance?," nudged Christina.
He snapped out of whatever mind trap he was in and focused on answering Christina's question. "He pulled that same stunt on us, only we were in the bathroom." He said the last few words in an almost whispery voice with his head slowly moving to look at the linoleum.
Sensing a really embarrassing story behind this, Christina and Howie egged him on so he could tell them what happened, while Joey sternly gazed at Lance, trying to intimidate him to be quiet. Being outnumbered by Christina and Howie, Lance caved and told them the JC came into the room using the spare that Joey gave to JC. They were making out in the shower, and so close to sex too, when JC stealthily entered the bathroom decided to get them moving. First, he opened the cold-water valve of the sink, and then flushed the toilet. He just had to wait for a few seconds for the water in the shower to change and for Joey and Lance to jump out screaming with JC taking as much Polaroid's as possible. JC ran from the room with Joey in hot pursuit with only a white towel around his waist. Lance had to laugh at the whole thing, despite him being a victim of the prank. Soon enough, Joey came back, red as a lobster, and started to dress up in a very violent fashion. Lance shrugged his shoulders and started to follow in Joey's example, though less livid.
Howie and Christina laughed at the story, while Joey burden his head on his hands and shook it in shame. Lance laughed and held a gleam, which Joey will ask about later. It has "cruel and malicious" written all over it.
Meanwhile over at the desk sergeant's table, JC sat, silently waiting for the officer to give him the release forms needed to spring the guys out of jail. He stayed away from the rest, knowing that he wasn't that popular at the moment. In retrospect, he just couldn't resist the thought of taking pictures of his friends in embarrassing situations. He may be the serious one in NSYNC but he also has a bad asshole streak in him, as his band mates unfortunately found out on their first tour together.
All the waiting made JC quiet and restless. As the cops and criminals hustled and bustled around, all he could do was listen in to various things the people were talking about around him.
"Fuck Off, Asshole"
"Put a lid on it, Dumbass!"
"I tell you, I didn't do it!"
"Sure Mrs. Thomas! We'll find your daughter."
"How is that 'Jane Doe' that you guys found this morning, Carole?"
Somehow, JC's interest peaked up at the mention of the 'Jane Doe'. Curiosity rising, he started to listen in discreetly to the conversation of the desk sergeant sitting down beside him with the redhead officer standing up. She handed him the report that she just finished and sat down on the desk's edge and drank up from her cup of Starbucks Coffee.
"She's doing fine. Hasn't woken up yet though. Doctor's said that she won't wake up for a while due to the amount of swelling on her head. We haven't identified her yet. We'll probably have an ID by the afternoon to the end of the day. Here's what she looks like," said the female officer to the African American sergeant. He mulled over the picture and said aloud the woman's description and noted what few clues there were to her identity.
As JC continued to listen, his mind churned as to who did he knew that fits into the general picture. He knew a few people but most of them were related to Lance. He just shrugged mentally and placed his hand on his head to lean down and waited some more for the paperwork. Soon enough, it arrived and the desk sergeant gave it to him with about hundred things to sign. "Damn red tape," thought JC as the last of his signatures was written on the papers.
After about ten more minutes of being in the station, four very relieved boy band members were rushed into the stretch limo the was waiting for them all. Luckily, no one from the media found out about this and they were able to leave without as much as a fuss.
The separation in the limo was obvious as on one side were the couples, and on the other side were the unattached. While the single people conversed among themselves all the way back to the hotel, the couples were whispering to each with Lance and Christina acting as a bridge between the two couples. This unnerved JC, as he knew that they were going to get even with him some enough. It was just a matter of time.
"Fuck you two," yelled Chris at Justin and AJ. "If you two didn't get all that drunk last night, you two wouldn't have fought in that bar and we wouldn't be in jail. Thanks to you two, we had to spend the time getting sober in a cell," Chris berated them. Nick Carter snickered and then Chris snapped at him. "And you! You had to egg them on, you idiot. You did nothing but encouraged these two Assholes. Jesus!" Chris continued to scold the three of them until the limo pulled up to the entrance of the Ritz-Carlton. Apparently, he kept all of his exasperations under control, until now.
When all of them got out of the Limo, Ryan had just arrived in a cab; all disheveled and with a very noticeable afterglow. Justin and Nick just had to comment on that.
"Someone got laid!," both of them said while Ryan just smiled at them blissfully. All of them decided to get some breakfast and went to the hotel's restaurant. Going to the café, the group noticed Nick Lachey, Jessica and Dani all gathered up at the front desk.
Joey greeted them. "What are you guys doing here? And what's with the bags?"
"I have to get back on the tour, and Jess has to get to Chicago to do Oprah," said Nick.
"I didn't know you were a lesbian, Jess. Maybe you could shoot some pictures of your escapes for me," joked AJ. Nick punched him lightly and gave him a glare. AJ raised his hands and backed off.
Dani pulled Lance to the side while Nick and Jessica made their goodbyes. "Listen, sweetie. I know you having a tough time with every thing, and all, but I want you to remember that we're all here for you no matter what, okay," Said Dani. Lance gave her a bear hug in response. After letting go, Dani gave him a stuffed envelope. "You open that when you have time to yourself." Lance smiled at her gift. "Chris and I will be leaving with Jess and Nick because we have to attend an investors meeting back in California. Fu Man Skeeto stuff."
Just then, Chris came from the elevator with his carry-ons and lightly kissed Dani on her cheek. "Scoop, remember to give me a call should the going gets tough, okay. Just one call, and I'll be there." Chris gave the younger man a hug and a firm handshake.
"With bells on?" asked Lance with a mock whiny tone.
"And the entire cast of Hair doing the mambo," quipped Chris. After a few words of goodbyes with them, the four people who were leaving said all that was needed to be said to Lance and left for the airport. Lance sighed, even if he knew that he was going to see them again soon, he missed them already.
Nick Carter and AJ, having flown in last night without any place to stay, decided to take over the suite of Chris and Dani with Howie. Christina, wanting to take her relationship with Howie a bit further, decided to move up to Howie's suite. With Ryan and Justin being the only ones left in their suite, JC and Joey moved their things up there. After all the moving was finished, they all congregated in the hotel's restaurant for lunch, since breakfast was forgotten by the departure of their friends.
The restaurant was busy enough with all the tables full of people. JC asked the Maitre'd why the place was full.
"There is an international convention here in town for the next week or so. It's about a mock United Nations Assembly for College students. Pretty much, every developed country in the world has a group here to represent their nation, so Manhattan is full for the weekend. That's why its so crowd here now," the headwaiter explained.
The group managed to get a long table in the very back as soon as a group of Chinese representatives left. As the large group passed them, one of their numbers screamed and rushed towards Nick and Justin in a flurry of broken English. Soon, a large crowd of young women, and the occasional male, of practically every country in the planet began swarming around the members of the two boy bands. Forced to sign autographs, the present members of NSYNC and BSB, along with Christina, started an on-the-spot-meet-and-greet. Lance and Ryan managed to get themselves to the table as their friends continued to sign everything shown to them until hotel security and their own bodyguards told the crowd of fans the back off. Lance and Ryan started to laugh at the harassed appearance for their friends. The throngs of people went back to their tables, but their conversations, no matter what the language they heard, were all now about the people sitting in the far table, instead of world politics.
"Hey, how come Lance didn't get mobbed like the rest of us?" asked Nick.
Howie rolled his eyes in at Nick's "Clueless" moment. "Nick, look at Lance. Dark long hair, big rimmed glasses, and the makings of a beard. Do you think people would recognize him at first glance?," Howie pointed out.
Nick looked as if he saw the light and quickly silenced himself with a sheepish look to Lance. Lance felt sympathy for the youngest Backstreet Boy and told him, "It's okay, Nick." He smiled and motioned for the waiter to take their orders.
Lunch was pleasant enough, despite the occasional stray fan that gathered enough courage to approach the group for autographs. One particularly pretty fan got a kiss from Justin and she fainted dead away, the group laughed at her reaction. With most of the guys and bodyguards block the view of the couples from the other people in the restaurant, Joey and Lance managed to hold their hands together while Howie stole little pecks on Christina's lips for the duration of the meal.
"I want to kiss you so bad right now," Joey said almost pathetically to Lance's ear. His hand disentangled from Lance's and started to move to Lance's thigh. Joey began to stroke it slowly as Lance's face changed to one of controlled frustration. It was maddening. Lance self-control was slowly dwindling with Joey's manipulation of his fingers. Slowly, the fingers crept up to his crotch and Joey stopped as AJ said that he was going up to the room to take a nap. As everyone stood up, Lance leaned in and whispered to Joey's ear, "You fucking owe me a blowjob for that stunt you just pulled."
"I promise," Joey whispered back.
And promise he did. (For you dirt minds out there, I'll leave the sex to you until I start to write them for myself.)
About Six Hours and Six Orgasms Combined Later...
Joey was breathless. Lance went to sleep about 10 minutes ago after what seemed to be an eternity of foreplay and sexual frustrations released. Sure, they didn't have intercourse but he could only imagine what it could be like with him if having oral sex with Lance was like this. He was like a horny rabbit wanting more. "Damn, my dick and jaw hurts like a bitch," he thought as Lance held on to him and laid down on his chest. "God, I need a shower. And here I thought that I was insatiable."
Joey tried to sit up but was held down by Lance's tight grip on him. A few minutes of coaxing and Joey was free. Since Joey wasn't there to cuddle with, Lance reached out and hugged the pillow that Joey was lying on. Joey saw Lance smell the pillow unconsciously and hugged it tighter in his sleep. He left his lover to his slumber for the bathroom, which was locked from the other side. Joey tried to jiggle it but to no avail. He put on his boxers and gathered his other stuff, then went out of his room. He saw that Ryan, JC, and Justin were all at the common room talking. They saw Joey and all of them smirked.
"Well, at least someone among us is getting some action," commented Ryan, which made Joey blush. He gave them the finger and all of them just giggled with delight. Going into JC's room, he went into the connecting bathroom between their rooms. Locking the door leading to JC's room and unlocking the one leading to his, Joey made sure that the door of his room was locked. He didn't want a repeat of what JC did this morning.
Forgoing a shower, Joey decided to draw a bath because his body felt sore after all that "exercise". Submerging himself into the warm water, he began to think about the pass few days and how much his love meant so much to him right now. He had lovers in the past, both men and women, but no one had compared, he knew, to Lance in his heart. Who knew that, because of Lance, Joey would want more. Now, he wanted a family, a home to go to, maybe their own children. Sure, he had Brianna, his daughter, but Kelly won't even allow him to see her. If only he could be with her so he could have his own family with Lance. "Maybe in the future, we'll see," he thought.
While Joey was in the bathroom, James woke up at the sensation of lack of warmth. He felt cold and no matter what, not even the blanket could make him feel warm. He opened his eyes and tried to figure out where he was. The initial disorientation made him panic first, but as recognition sets in, he knew that he was in Joey's room. James languidly tried to feel more comfortable but knew that since he was awake, he won't be able to sleep anymore. He slowly propped himself up and began to search for his boxers on the floor. Slipping them on, he began to look around and found the CD player of the room. He approached the device decisively as he scratched his butt through the silken material and pressed the random play button. The player whirled into life, and began playing "I Didn't Know I Was Looking For Love 'Til I Found You" by Everything But The Girl. As the beginnings of the song started, James returned to the bed and stretched out his tired but content body all over the sheets. He knew that the real thing was going to be mind-blowing if oral was going to be like this all the time.
I was alone thinkin' I was just fine I wasn't lookin' for anyone to be mine I thought love was just a fabrication A train that wouldn't stop at my station
Home, alone, that was my consignment Solitary confinement So when we met I was getting around you
I didn't know I was looking for love until I found you baby I didn't know I was looking for love I didn't know I was looking for love
Cuz there I stood and I would Oh I wonder could I say what I felt And not be misunderstood A thousand stars came into my system I never knew how much I had missed them
Slap on my lap of my heart you landed I was coy but you made me candid And now the planets circle around you
I didn't know I was looking for love until I found you baby I didn't know I was looking for love I didn't know I was looking for love
So we build from here with love the foundation In a world where tears our consolation Now your here there's a full brass band Playin' in me like a wonderland And if you left I would be two foot small And every tear would be a waterfall Soundless boundless I surround you
I didn't know I was looking for love until I found you I just didn't know
I didn't know I was looking for love until I found you I didn't know I was looking for love
I just didn't know Until I found you baby Until I found you I didn't know I was looking for love Until I found you
With most of his senses in a relaxed state, Lance didn't notice Joey slip out of the bathroom, without clothing, and lay down beside him to embrace him. Lance felt the warm arms around him and began to snuggle closer to Joey's body. "This feels so right," he thought as his body's curves and angles connected with Joey's contours.
Joey began to nibble a bit of Lance's ear and then he whispered, "This song describes perfectly how I feel about you. It wasn't until I found you that I knew what I was missing."
"That's so sweet, Teddybear," said Lance to Joey. Joey expression crunched up.
"Teddybear?"
"Yeah, pretty much. You're big and a bit hairy, but you're cuddly and sweet like a Teddybear. Why? Don't you like it?", worried Lance.
Joey thought for a moment and smiled. "No, I kinda like it. Can I call you Poofu?", he said with a hint of mischief.
"That is still under negotiations."
"Bet I could change your mind?"
"We'll see." Lance reached down and grabbed Joey dick and began stroking it with slow and tantalizing movements. Joey groaned as his shaft started to grow hard. He turned around for some better access and to kiss the "spot" near the nape of Joey's neck. "I want something from you."
Joey groaned again, but this time it was from exasperation. "Lance, I came about 3 or 4 times in the pass how many hours. I don't really think I could do another round. I'm tired, you know. Maybe after, we grab some dinner and talk with the guys, then I might be able to go at it another round or so."
Lance pouted and Joey almost caved. Lance was about to do another attempt when Joey's phone started to ring. Joey, glad for the momentary distraction, answered the phone. "Hello," greeted Joey to the person on the other side of the line.
"Joey, is Lance there?" asked an agitated female voice.
"Who's this? Stacy?"
"Yeah, it's me. Listen, is Lance there because I really need to talk to him."
"Hold on a second." Joey passed the phone to a very puzzled Lance. He got the phone warily and held his ear to the receiver.
"Hello"
"Lance, you have to come to St. Mercy Hospital quickly."
"Whoa, Stacy. Why? What happened?"
"It's Mom!"
Lance's blood went cold. "What happened to Mom? Is she okay? Why is she here?"
"Listen, just get here. It's not good. The doctors said that there were some complications over the passed few hours but they said that she's stable. Lance, she's in a coma."
The pain and heartache that Stacy conveyed went through Lance like a knife and he dropped the phone in disbelief. Joey picked up the phone and Stacy instructed Joey what to do. Joey followed and hung up the phone. All the while, Lance stayed motionless in fear and despair. Joey gathered his and Lance's clothes and began to dress up. With some persuasion, Joey managed to move Lance into his clothes and out of the door where the rest of the guys were.
"Guys, Lance and I are going to the hospital."
"What happened, Joey?" asked JC with worry evident on his face.
"Lance's Mom is in critical condition and they need him there," said Joey while supporting Lance from collapsing. Without another word, JC, Justin and Ryan gathered their essentials and ran out the door with the new couple. Ryan went down the hall to tell the members of BSB and Chrissy all that has happened while NSYNC went down to the lobby to get their limo.
Nine anxious people eventually gathered, along with 2 bodyguards, in the front door and then piled into the large stretched car.
The somber mood of the car made everyone quiet, no one had the nerve to speak up. Joey hugged Lance, as to give comfort to the younger man. While in Lance's mind, he wished that he could run away again to escape all this.
TBC...