My Surprise Romance

Hi everyone!

Ahh, what can I say. It's been almost three weeks and I feel really bad that it's taken me so long to get this installment out. My dearest apologies to those who've waited for this part. I can honestly say that I've had writers block as well as school, which has become the thorn in my side. Uuuggghhhh....

Anyways, enough of that. I'd just like to thank everyone who sent me e-mails about the last installment. I really really appreciate it and since I'm not feeling too inspired these days, all feedback certainly makes me feel better :) I have been slow in getting to my mails lately and for that I do apologize. I've always been an e-mail fanatical-junkie-slut and I feel bad when it takes me forever to answer back. Anyways, please, please, please e-mail me at sweetheart_stories@hotmail.com .Please I really need the feedback, whether good or bad, I don't care. I need it!

And thank you to everyone who cheers me on...Damon...KiKi...Ethan....John (Just Around the River Bend), Dale...Khiem...the list could go on and on and I'm just too lazy to type everyone's name in :) I would like to give thanks to some really special people here: John, for being my hubby--I love ya and I should be home in time for tea :), Val--well, sweetie, what else can I say, but `Thank You' for all of the support that you've given me (you know exactlywhat I mean). I owe ya an email and I'm gonna send you one once I finish this! Really! Chris--::sigh:: we need help. Serious help--but that's what makes us so cute! And Justin--I don't think I can say anything else but I love ya. I'm so glad I met you and thank you for everything....everything.

And the webpage has been updated. Like always--go, go, go!!!! Lots of new stuff and you'll see why I'm going to checking into the loony bin when MSR is over with!

http://sweetheart.homepage.com

DISCLAIMER: This chapter/installment deals with a m/m relationship. If it's not legal to read it, then don't. If you're not of legal age (18/21), don't read it. If you don't like this stuff, don't go any further. This story is not meant to imply the sexuality of Lance Bass. I don't know him, I want to know him...and...well, that's all I can say...

(The title of this chapter is taken from the R.E.M. song of the same name.)

My Surprise Romance

The Better to Dream of You

Chapter 45

Nightswimming

It had been an incredible night. I don't think there was any other word that could describe the night that Lance and I had shared together, except incredible...

I think I need to explain...

When I had spoken to Stacey that afternoon, she told me that she and Ford wanted to take Lance and I out to dinner that night, as an apology for the way she had treated us. Now I have never been one to say no to a free meal and as we got ready, it seemed to be a good idea. Lance seemed nervous once I mentioned the idea and while we dressed, he had managed to cover all of the worst case scenarios possible. My poor boyfriend was freaking out before we even got into the car, a very nice SUV that he kept at his parents house while he was on tour. During the drive, I tried to calm Lance down by telling him that Stacey wasn't mad at him and that everything was going to be alright, but my words fell on deaf, nervous ears. When we finally got to the restaurant, Lance was squeezing his hands into tight fists to keep them from shaking.

We met Stacey and Ford at the entrance and once we were inside, the four of us were whisked off to a reserved section of the restaurant. And that's where disaster struck. Lance's mouth clamped shut. Stacey gazed off into space with an uncomfortable expression on her face. And Ford and I sat there, like two schmucks, playing with our flatware. We were thankful when the menus were passed out, because at least we had just that inanimate object to look at and not at each other. I don't know why it was so hard to make eye-contact... Stacey and I had that nice talk that afternoon and she had even hugged me upon parting...but this...this dinner was just torture...

After the waiter had fawned all over Lance (who looked like he was going to kick the waiter's ass in if he mentioned the word, `N Sync' one more time), and then taken our orders (I was surprised that Lance hadn't been drooled on), the four of us sat there once more, in uncomfortable silence, staring at the walls and playing with the shiny flat gold utensils that sat on the elegant silky ivory colored tablecloth. The quiet was unbearable--much worse than any other patches of quiet that I had experienced before. Lance drank the glass of wine that sat in front of him in one quick gulp and immediately poured himself another glass. I stared at my fingernails, praying that the night would soon come to an end. This was a huge mistake and we all knew it.

And finally...finally Ford decided to break the ice. He looked at all of us, flashing us a somewhat shy grin...and then he opened up his mouth and out fell out an incredibly lame joke. Something about a zebra, a church, a priest and...I don't even remember it to be honest with you. It was that bad. Incredibly lame. And much worse than any joke book I had ever read. And Ford knew it. When he received nothing but resounding silence from the three of us, he just sat back in his chair, and stared at us with an expectant look on his face.

I looked over at Lance and he just stared at me with an openmouthed gape. I could read his mind--`What the hell is Ford thinking? The last thing in the world I want to hear right now is some lame ass joke.' But still, Ford continued to stare at us...waiting for some kind of response...

And then Stacey began to laugh. A high pitched, girlish giggle that reverberated throughout the restaurant's VIP section. All of the rich, snobby patrons present, turned to look at us with angry, disapproving looks. But Stacey didn't care...she just kept laughing and laughing, doubling over, and when she looked back up at us, tears rolled down her lightly rouged cheeks.

"Ford..." she managed to gasp out between bursts of laughter. She slammed her hand on the table in front of her, causing the entire table to shake, as she attempted to take in a breath of air. "Oh my Lord...Ford...what the hell was that? That was so bad....so bad..." She pounded her hand on the table once more, drawing even more furious looks from the other patrons. And suddenly, I got it. I got the whole absurdity of the situation around me and found that Stacey's laughter was contagious. Soon, I was uncontrollable laughing my ass off, like Ford's joke was the funniest thing that I had ever heard. And almost instantaneously, Lance began to laugh as well. Maybe he realized the whole odd situation in front of him. Or maybe he had thought Ford's joke was actually funny (you could never figure out Lance sometimes--he had the strangest sense of humor). Or maybe the sight of the two laughing idiots next to him was just too much for him to take. Whatever it was that triggered his fit of laughter, Lance suddenly jumped up from the table and ran off in the direction of the bathrooms.

Seeing Lance's reaction, only made Stacey and I laugh even harder, and then Ford finally jumped in as well. My sides began to ache and my throat burned from laughing so much. When Lance came back to the table, he just stared at the three of us with a mock evil glare...and then broke down into a fit of giggles once more.

The ice had finally been broken and the four of us began to talk. But not before Stacey reached over, placed a hand over Lance's and looked at him with sadness and shame in her sapphire eyes.

"Lance..." she began, her words barely audible over the clink-clink of the porcelain dishes and gold flatware that echoed through the restaurant. "I need to say this: I'm so sorry about what I said..." She lowered her eyes to her lap before looking back up at her brother. "Lance...I love you--and I've decided that no matter what...I'm behind you one hundred percent. One hundred percent."

Well, the expression on my boyfriend's face would have put a 150 watt bulb to shame. His lips broke out into a grin that stretched out from ear to ear and his luminous green eyes filled with tears...my heart jumped into my throat as Lance suddenly rose from his chair and pulled Stacey from her seat. He wrapped her into a wild, unexpected hug and held onto his sister for dear life.

I felt myself choke up at this sight, mainly because I never thought that I would see it happen. I thought that the bond between Lance and Stacey had been broken for good, but seeing the display of affection in front of me, it clearly wasn't. Both of them had looks of relief and happiness on their faces, and they were both so overcome with emotion, neither Lance nor Stacey could speak.

And while I'd love to say that was the best part of the evening, it wasn't. Something even better had happened that night and it happened after dinner...

Lance and I decided to head back home. Or at least I thought we were going to head back home. As Lance sped down the highway in his SUV, I realized two things: One, this was the first time that Lance had ever driven me around. All of the other times, I had been the one behind the drivers wheel and, well...I'll admit it, I liked being the one in control. Not having my hands on that steering wheel made me nervous. And two, Lance drove like a crazy person. He drove well above the speed limit, sometimes passing cars that were actually obeying the law and all of this rush-rush urgency made me uncomfortable. However, I didn't say anything, for fear that my food would crawl up my trachea and out of my mouth--that's how nervous Lance's driving made me. Plus, to make matters even worse, I think both Lance and I had a little too much `celebratory (as he called it) wine to drink at dinner. I know that my head was spinning around like a record as Lance pressed his foot to the accelerator, which caused the needle on the speedometer to rise even more.

"Lance?" I said, my voice a bit wobbly from the alcohol that was frantically coursing through my bloodstream. As I said his name, Lance turned his head to look at me, his chartreuse eyes shining with mischief. I couldn't help but let out a strangled yelp as we drove down the road. "For the Love of God, Lance--don't look at me, just pay attention to the road!!!"

To my surprise, a deep,throaty laugh punctured the vehicle's claustrophobic space. Lance shifted his eyes back to the road that lay in front of him and grinned. "Geez, Stephen," he began to tease me. "You wouldn't happen to be a little nervous now would you? Were you a driving instructor in one of your past lives?"

I couldn't answer his little quip. Instead, I dug my fingernails deeper into the vinyl covered passenger door and began to silently recite numerous Act of Contritions in my mind. I did this over and over until the religious words didn't make much sense to me anymore. I grew silent as the world whizzed past me in a blur. My silence must have tipped off Lance, who automatically picked up on my worry.

"You okay, Stephen?" he asked softly, as he began to slow the SUV down a little. I looked over at him, and couldn't help but give him a smile. I noticed that ever since we had been down in the south, his almost nonexistent southern accent had emerged stronger than ever. I thought it was an incredibly sexy aspect of him, and I allowed my mind to replay Lance's question over and over.

"I'm fine," I answered a bit breathlessly, as Lance rounded a corner, turning onto a darkened road. The bright lights of downtown faded behind us as Lance continued his drive. "Although I never knew that you were such a maniac behind the wheel."

Slowing down even more, Lance turned to look at me. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes flashed a mischievous glint at me. "Aww, come on Stephen--you know what a maniac I am in bed. So what would make you think I was any different behind the wheel?"

For some reason, his very suggestive comment made my face turn as red as a tomato. I wasn't used to this side of Lance--he had always been so...calm...almost gentle and caring towards me...and now here he was: this speed freak, an adrenalin crazed nut...and as much as I didn't want to admit it, it was really turning me on. I liked this side of Lance. I mean, I'm not saying that he was innocent--because he was far from that--no, it was more that I hadn't expected him to have this wild side. The alcohol in my blood prevented me from elaborating on my thoughts, and I silenced the thoughts in my mind. I don't think my mind was making a lot of sense.

And as much as I wanted to answer Lance's provocative little question, I couldn't. The words caught in my throat as Lance continued to drive down the practically deserted road. It was free of streetlights, and noticing this, he flipped on the SUV's high beams, allowing him to make out the path in front of us. As the blacktop turned to gravel, I could hear the stones hit the underside of the car. Where the hell were we going? I knew that this wasn't the way back to the Bass house. I didn't consider myself an expert on Mississippi, but I sure as hell knew that this wasn't the way to Lance's house.

"Lance? Where are we going?" I asked, my voice filled with curiosity as I watched his hands slide over the steering wheel, maneuvering the vehicle down the rough road. He took his eyes briefly off the drive and looked at me.

"You'll see," he promised teasingly as we came to a fork in the road. As he went down the left path, Lance asked me an odd question. "Stephen--truth or dare?"

What? Truth or dare? What the hell was this? I didn't get the point of the question and I let him know it. "Lance...you've gotta be kidding me. Truth or dare? What gives? Is this some kind of a joke?" I pestered. Rolling his eyes, Lance pressed his foot on the brake, causing the SUV to stop with an abrupt jerk. I nearly flew through the windshield and I thanked God for the invention of the seat belt.

"No, it's not some kind of a joke," Lance answered my question and I noticed the look on his face was one of dead seriousness. "I mean it--truth or dare?" He had to be kidding me. We were twenty-one years old. Way too old to play childish games like this.

"Lance, you're drunk," I complained. "Come on, just turn the car around and head back home," Instead of listening to me, those perfect light brown eyebrows of his, furrowed into a deep glare and he violently slammed his hand on the steering wheel, which caused me to wince.

"God damn it, Stephen! I'm not drunk! I am NOT drunk!" he roared. "I just want to have some fun with you!" He glanced at the road in front of him for a moment, before looking back at me, his voice full of pent up tension. "We're finally alone, and isn't that what matters the most? That we're finally alone together? We haven't been alone in ages--not since the airport! And I just want to be with you before we have to go back home--is that too much to ask?" His voice had calmed down a bit, back into his normal gentle manner and he flashed me a shaky smile. I was shaken up as well as sobered up. Being screamed at does wonders for you if you happen to be drunk.

"Sorry," I apologized. "I didn't mean to get you mad, Lance...I thought you were kidding..." I gave him a smile and blindly reached out for his hand. His skin felt so warm and inviting against mine, I thought with a sigh. "Or drunk," I added mischievously. "But you're not...so...dare."

"Dare?!" Lance asked in surprise, before relaxing his lips into a grin. "You're a feisty one aren't you? Okay...uh..." He darted his eyes around nervously, trying to think of something good. I guess he had expected me to answer truth'. "Ah....lean your head out the window and scream, Lance Bass is the handsomest man on this planet and I want to bear all his children,"

My mouth dropped open momentarily as Lance leaned back in his seat and flashed me a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin. "Come on, Stephen--you chose dare," Lance reminded me.

Smirking, I began to roll down the car window. "It's not that I don't want to," I began, "I'm just surprised how egotistical you are."

I didn't bother to wait for his response. Instead, I leaned my head out of the car window and screamed at the top of my lungs, "Lance Bass is the handsomest man on this planet and I want to bear all his children!!" I paused for a moment and looked back at my boyfriend. His head was thrown back, as his body shook with uncontrollable laughter. Another phrase popped into my mind and, before I lost the nerve to scream it, I leaned my head out the window once more and let go: "And he's also the greatest fuck that ever walked!" My words echoed throughout the country air, stretching past the fields of corn and wheat. I looked at Lance once more, and found his face contorted into a mask of shock as he realized my words.

"Stephen!" he exclaimed, pressing his foot to the accelerator as he was about to drive off. But before we could escape, another voice reverberated throughout the air: "Shut the fuck up!!! `N Sync sucks!!!" A burst of laughter sprung from my throat as Lance drove off into more uncharted territory.

"I can't believe you just yelled that," Lance moaned, shaking his head. I enjoyed watching the blush creep up the side of his neck. It was cute.

"Why not? It's not like they knew who we were," I managed to say between giggles. "But they knew who you were, my dear." Not able to hold back any longer, I reached out and stroked his cheek, causing his eyes to close briefly at my touch. When they flew open, Lance hit the brake once more, stopping the vehicle and nearly sent me flying through the windshield again.

"Okay, Stephen--its your turn to ask me."

I sucked in a breath through pursed lips. I knew it was going to be my turn, and for a brief second, I found myself at a loss for words. "Okay, Lansten," I finally said, my voice sly, as I cracked my knuckles. He winced at my actions, but kept his eyes glued to mine. "Truth or dare?" I attempted to make my voice sound as mysterious as possible, but it didn't work. Instead, I sounded like I had a bad cold. Lance ignored this and a shy, somewhat awkward grin flew across his lips.

"Truth," he answered solemnly, quickly placing the SUV in park. I raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't say a word. Instead, I began to rack my brain, trying to think of a good question to ask him.

"Alright...where are we going?" I asked, motioning around me with my hand. "I have no clue where we are--for all I know, you could be a murderer who wants to kill me," I said, sticking my lower lip out and widening my eyes, trying to muster up a fearful look.

"Aw, come on Stephen!" Lance objected. "You gotta come up with a better question than that--and hey, how did you find out my side profession?" he asked, trying to hold back a laugh. I rolled my eyes and quickly thought of another question.

"Okay, what are you feeling right now?" I desperately hoped that my question wasn't too lame. But I didn't have a good imagination--and besides, I wanted to know what was going on in that pretty little head of his. I wanted to know how he felt...what he wanted...and why we were here.

"Right now?" Lance asked, his voice a low whisper. "Well..." His words trailed off as he unbuckled his seat belt and leaned over towards me. Moving his face next to mine, Lance reached up and gently traced a path down my cheek. "Right now...I'm feeling like I want you..." And he finished off his statement by placing his lips on mine. For some odd reason, neither Lance nor I closed our eyes as our lips met, in an enduring kiss. I felt his tongue tenderly part my lips and began to search my mouth like there was no tomorrow. I couldn't believe how fast my blood pressure began to rise while my heart thumped rapidly in my chest. I reached around, placed my hand between his shoulder blades and pulled Lance a little closer to me (well, as close as you possible can when there's a stick shift between you), our eyes never closing. It was like Lance was staring directly into my soul as his tongue moved inside my mouth, gently running over my teeth and meeting the tip of my tongue. When we finally parted, I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. I couldn't breathe or speak. I felt like I had been on some sort of acid trip where one world had shut and another world opened up inside of me. I had seen something that altered my perceptions of reality and it led me into one where only Lance and I existed. It was mind boggling. Shaken by the fervent moment that we had just shared, Lance and I remained silent for a couple of seconds. He finally saw fit to break the lull between us, by looking down at my lap, and a humored smirk broke out on his lips.

"Down boy," Lance teased me, a glint in his eyes as he eyed my reaction to our moment of passion. I felt my face turn hot, embarrassed by how fast my body had become aroused by his kiss. I cleared my throat, and noticing my discomfort Lance changed the subject.

"So....truth or dare?" he asked quietly, reaching out to take my hand in his. I took one more deep breath, trying to quiet the ringing of my heart in my ears.

"Truth?" I answered, trying to sound like I wasn't going to faint any second. Lance flashed me another one of his heartbreaking grins as he pulled the car's transmission into drive.

"A good answer," Lance nodded wisely. "Do you want me to show you where I'm taking you?" When I bobbed my head up and down in response, Lance pressed his foot to the accelerator and we were off...

"This is it?!?" I asked, my voice betraying the lustful feelings that were brewing inside of me. Lance and I were still sitting in the SUV, while an almost picture-perfect pond stretched out in front of us. Under the moonlight, the water rippled gently in the slight breeze, and a slight shimmer of light bounced off the waves.

"Yup," Lance answered, his eyes turning downcast at my surprised expression. "I was hoping that you'd be a little more excited--but you're probably more curious to why I brought you here in the first place, right?"

I nodded mutely, my eyes still taking in the swimming hole. I didn't mind that we were here, but I still wondered what Lance's motives were. I patiently sat next to my boyfriend as I waited for some sort of response.

"Well..." he began slowly, as though he didn't want to tell me the truth. "You know, I'm not sure why I brought you here--it was just at dinner--this place just crept into my mind, and...well...remember how you took me to the sculpture garden on our first date?"

"That wasn't a date," I protested, as my mind recalled the simpler days of my past. "We weren't even sure that we liked each other then."

Lance shook his head firmly and I looked into his eyes, watching them turn jade as he thought of the memory. "Well, I call it a date--not an official one, but I knew how much I liked you back then. I was just hoping you felt the same way....anyways, I just wanted to bring you here. It's nice and peaceful--there used to be huge keg parties here during my senior year, but before that, I used to come out here when I needed to think." His expression turned pensive as he took my hand into his.

"By yourself?" I teased him. "Didn't your mom teach you that there's safety in numbers?" Lance grinned at me, allowing his hand to move downwards, where he began to gently stroke my thigh. I quickly bit my lip, not wanting to let out a moan. I didn't want to ruin the moment between us with my lustful howlings. It just seemed too perfect to ruin. Lance was telling me about his past, which despite all the time that we had spent together, was still a bit of a mystery. I had heard odd bits here and there, but I had never heard the whole thing. And I liked it when Lance confided in me...it made me feel so honored.

"Well, I'm here with you, now, right? So I'm safe--" he raised an eyebrow at me. "or at least I think I am." As he said this, Lance's gentle touches against my leg, grew heavier with each stroke. I found it difficult to control my breathing, but I tried my damnest to ignore his hand and concentrate on his words instead. "Anyways," Lance repeated, as a grin peppered his comments. "Before I was so rudely interrupted--" His eyes sparkled as he said this, so I knew he was kidding me. "I used to come out here in the daytime to think about stuff..."

"Like what?" I asked him curiously. I knew I shouldn't have pried, but I wanted to know. After all, he did bring me out here, right? I peered at Lance, hoping that he wouldn't mind me asking him what he thought about.

"Well..." he squirmed uncomfortably in his seat, looking at the steering wheel in front of him. "You know...stuff...stuff...about myself. Like why I didn't find any of the girls that I was dating attractive...you know, stuff like that," Lance let out a forlorn sigh as he rushed on. "So I used to come out here and sit on the hood of my car, and just think, `why me'." He looked back up and I was astonished to see those beautiful eyes of his filled with a pain and longing that I had never seen before. Even though those days were past him, the faded memories that had once haunted his soul were now rushing back. And sadly enough, I knew how he felt at that moment. But part of me was shocked, since I had never thought of Lance as having any sort of emotional baggage...His personality was so bright and positive, I had never imagined that he had any sort of psychological scars inside of him.

"I was so unhappy Stephen," Lance managed to choke out, carefully blinking so that the tears wouldn't spill from his eyes. "You don't even know--no one did--everytime I would kiss a girl, I wouldn't think of her...my mind would be on something else..." Lance blinked once more and gave me a sheepish smile. "I guess you know what I was thinking about...but I just was always so confused--until I met you..." I felt something in my heart snap as he said this. I felt the same way. No one had affected me so deeply until I met Lance.

"Lance," I said softly, reaching over to stoke his face. "I never knew that about you...why didn't you tell me about that before?"

Lance could only shrug his shoulders, refusing to meet my eyes as he spoke. "I don't know, I guess I just never wanted to bring it up. We were having such a good time, I figured, why bring up old skeletons? And then all of the stuff that happened to you." He snorted. "I was not going to burden you with my problems." He paused for a moment and finally met my eyes again. "But being back home...I guess it just brought all those old feelings back out in me, y'know? I mean, I always knew I was...like this," Lance gestured helplessly with his hand and then let it drop back in his lap. He turned his head away from me, choosing to peer out the car window.

"I know...I understand," I said, my voice quiet as I attempted to soothe him. "You have to be comfortable in telling me--I'm certainly not going to pry about your past experiences or anything if you don't want to tell me." I carefully chose my words, not wanting to sound like I hadn't thought of this before. Because I had. When Stacey had mentioned to me that Lance was caught in bed with another girl, she had opened up a Pandora's box that I found hard to shut. We had never talked about our past experiences, although I could count mine on one hand. While I had never thought of myself as the jealous type, the idea of my boyfriend, the love of my life, physically being with someone else before me...well...let's just say that I wasn't thrilled with it. But I wasn't about to pry...let Lance tell me when he was ready to.

And by the determined look in his eyes, it was clear to me that he was ready. He popped the locks and swung his door open. "Come on, Stephen," Lance murmured as he jumped out of the SUV. "I need to stretch my legs."

I followed Lance's lead, opening my door up and hopped onto the dirt ground. He slammed his door and began walking aimlessly towards the pond, not saying a word. It was almost as though a black cloud had formed over his head, as he bent down and picked up a handful of medium sized pebbles from the ground beneath us. He angrily threw them, one by one, into the pond, causing the water to ripple out into even, symmetrical patterns. The waves reflected off the moonlight, looking almost velvety in texture.

"You alright, Lance?" I asked cautiously, as I watched him bend down once more and pick up a few more stones. Unlike the other bunch, Lance hurled the entire collection into the air and watched as they landed into the pond in rapid succession.

"I'm fine," Lance shot back angrily, as he spat into the water. "Just fucking fine."

"Lance," I said, reaching out towards him, grabbing for his arm. I couldn't understand why he was so upset. We didn't fight, I hadn't said anything stupid and the events of the night had gone reasonably well...

"What, Stephen?" Lance asked bitterly, his eyes flashing fire. He shook off my grasp and shot me a look of pure venom. "What the hell do you want?" And without answering me, Lance gave me one last angry glare and spun around on his heel, walking away from me.

I stood there in shock, watching as he began to walk around the perimeter of the pond. He shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his dress pants and muttered some unintelligible words under his breath. Lance continued to walk, until he was halfway around the water's edge. I continued to stand there, frozen like a statue, feeling as though he had slapped me in the face. He was mad at me, and for what reason, I didn't know. I began to replay our conversation in our mind. Had I said something wrong? Did something wrong? I didn't know...I knelt next to the edge of the pond and stared into the water for a couple of seconds. I sucked in a shaky breath, not wanting to cry. I wanted to be tough...strong...but with Lance snapping at me for no obvious reason, I couldn't. I knelt down to gaze into the dark water and I could see my reflection in front of me. The expression on my face relayed exactly what I was feeling inside. I looked sad. A few more seconds passed before I saw someone else's reflection appear behind me. I looked up to see Lance standing there, a wistful look on his face.

"Stephen," he said softly as I rose to meet him at eye level. "I'm sorry for snapping at you like that...I didn't mean to..." he trailed off and looked at the ground for a couple of seconds. Swallowing my hurt and pride, I just gave him a half-smile.

"It's okay, Lance," I said, the words coming out of my mouth a bit shakier than I had expected them to. "Don't worry about it." I tried to brush his actions off, pretending that they hadn't bothered me, but they did. I didn't like to be yelled at, especially when I hadn't done anything to provoke Lance into yelling at me. I didn't deserved to be treated like that.

"No it's not," Lance said, taking my hands in his. "I didn't mean to yell at you, okay? It's just...look, there's something that we have to talk about, okay?"

"Okay," I agreed as we sat down on the ground, next to the pond's edge. Lance played with the blades of grass that surrounded us, before looking back up at me. He gave me a slight smile as he plucked one of the blades from the dirt and fumbled with it for a couple of seconds.

"Look...I just need to get this off my chest...before we go any further, alright?" Lance said seriously. "I don't want to hide stuff from you anymore." My eyebrows shot clear off my forehead when he said that. What exactly was he hiding from me? I felt my blood grow shaky as Lance quickly wetted his lips and took a deep breath.

"Alright," I agreed, surprised at how calm my voice sounded. "Shoot."

"Look, before I met you--" Lance paused for a second, and looked like he wanted to fall through the ground. "I slept with other people...girls." His voice had come out so solemn and scared that I almost expected Lance to follow it up with, "I have a child. I got a girl pregnant. And I've been treated for every disease you can imagine." But he didn't. His words had stopped at "girls" and that was all he had to say.

I don't know if Lance had expected me to freak out or start screaming at him, but I didn't do either of those things. Instead, I just sat there and stared at him evenly, waitng for more. But nothing came.

"Stephen," Lance finally said, snapping his fingers in front of my face. "Helloooo....did you hear what I just said? I slept with girls before..."

I thought about the words that were floating around in my head. I didn't want to sound as though I didn't care, but I didn't want to sound like a raving lunatic either...

"Lance...I had a feeling that you did...I kinda surmised that already," I told him, reaching out to trace a light path around his knuckles until I ended up at his thumbnail. "Plus, Stacey told me that your mom and dad caught you with a girl in bed, so....I kinda knew already."

The look on Lance's face was one of shock and surprise. "Really?" Lance asked, his eyes wide with amazement. "You knew?"

I nodded and pulled my knees up to my chest. "Uh-huh" I nodded. "I knew. And if you want to know, it doesn't bother me one bit. Not at all...I mean...well..." I lowered my voice a notch, allowing the words to fall from my lips. "I mean...well, I guess it does. A little. To know that other people have been with my boyfriend...but I don't control you." I let out a short laugh. "Hell, I didn't even know you back then, so why would I be mad?" I let the words pass between us and was relieved to see a relieved smile appear on Lance's face.

"So you understand?" he asked, the words catching in his throat. "And you're not mad at all?" I looked at Lance and was amazed at how truly beautiful he looked at that moment. If I could have frozen the expression on Lance's face, I would have. He looked both innocent and not-so-innocent at the same time. His eyes, iridescent in the shadows of the moonlight, glowed at me, full of understanding and love. The shadows caused by the moonlight, seemed to allow his cheekbones to stick out prominently. I just wanted to reach out and kiss him, but I didn't. Not now. I wanted to wait.

"I'm not mad at all, Lance..." I trailed off and then gave him a mischievous smile. "But can I ask you one thing?"

"What?" Lance asked, his eyes filling once more with worry. I almost regretted my question. Almost.

"How was it? You know, with a girl?" I couldn't help asking it. My question caused Lance to let out a laugh that bounced off the trees and rocks surrounding us.

"I'm guessing that you've never been with one, then?" Lance chucked softly. I shook my head and made a horrible face at him.

"Ewwww....a girl? Lance, come on," I teased him, nudging him in the shoulder. "No, seriously--how was it?"

Lance took a breath and grimaced slightly. "It was...awkward. I didn't know what to do....and when it did happen, I just wasn't into it....I mean, everything happened that was supposed to happen, but not inside. I didn't feel like I do when I'm with you...it's perfect when I'm with you, Stephen." A magnificent smile spread across his face when he said this and it took my breath away. With a slow, shy grin, Lance picked himself up off the ground and crawled over towards me. He moved his face next to mine and before he kissed me, he whispered, "I love you, Stephen. And no one else."

As our lips met, Lance and I fell backwards onto the ground together, our arms wrapped around each other's bodies. Our kisses were frantic, eager and needy. The blood throughout my body pounded through my veins, making me almost dizzy with passion. I felt his hands pull my tucked shirt out of my pants, while beginning to work their way up my chest. He pulled my shirt off of me, threw it carelessly to the side and then I felt his hands, brush over my nipples, hardening under his touch, before working back down to my belt.

"Stephen" Lance managed to breathe between kisses. "I know you don't want to do this, but I need you. I need you more than you'll ever know...and I need you now." And before I could even respond, Lance placed his mouth against mine once more and began to unbuckle my belt. Our lips parted again and his eyes trailed down my face, shining as they did so.

"Please?" he begged me, widening his eyes into the puppy dog look that he knew I couldn't resist, before kissing me again. But all I wanted to do was tell him that he didn't need to use that look. I wanted him just as much as he wanted me. I needed this too. All of the thoughts that had dogged my mind--my mother, the will, Lance's family--became distant memories as I began to run my hands up Lance's back. At that moment, I needed Lance as much as he needed me. Maybe even more.

We rolled around on the grass for a few seconds, dirt beginning to stick to our bodies as we tumbled back and forth. I felt his soft lips trail a path from my mouth to my neck, allowing his tongue to drift across my Adams apple. I shivered at the sensations that coursed throughout my body. And then Lance abruptly stopped and lifted himself off of me.

"What are you doing?" I asked my boyfriend as he extended his hand out to mine. He pulled me off the ground, our eyes locking as he began to step backwards towards the water.

"Lance? What are you doing?" I repeated. My head was spinning with broken lust. and my body ached for his touch. Why was he doing this to me? Why was he prolonging what I wanted so bad? Was this my punishment for what I had put him through that one night? Because if it was, Lance was doing a very good job at it.

"We never finished our game of truth or dare," Lance laughed huskily as he stopped at the water's edge. "And if I'm not mistaken, it's my turn to ask you something..." When I answered him with a frustrated, blank stare, Lance rolled his eyes and tugged on my hand. "Come on Stephen--don't you like to play?" he asked coyly, batting his eyelashes at me.

I felt my face turn crimson at his question. `Why was he doing this to me?' I thought over and over. "I like to play, but Lance--you're killing me here..."

"Come on," Lance ordered me with a mischievous smile. "Just let's finish the game." I heaved a sigh. Anything to make Lance happy, I thought. Anything. Anything so he would get back to pleasing me. "Truth or dare, Stephen?" He arched an eyebrow as he waited for my response.

"Dare," I finally answered after forcing more unpure thoughts of Lance out of my mind. He smirked at me, and I watched as the corner of his mouth turn up and an glint appear in his eye.

"Jump into the lake," Lance laughed. "Come on..." I stared at him as though he had gone insane.

"What?" I asked him, in shock. "You've got to be kidding me! Jump into there?" I pointed at the seemingly harmless water. "I don't know what's lurking in there!"

"Scared?" Lance teased me as he took off his dinner jacket and threw it to the side. In a matter of seconds he had stripped down to his boxer shorts, carelessly throwing his clothes in various directions, not caring where they landed. "Scared that the bogeyman is gonna grab you once you jump into there?" He never pried his eyes off of me as he did this.

"No," I answered indigently. "I'm not--I'm just saying that--" And before I could finish my sentence, Lance took off and cannonballed into the pond, landing with a huge splash. Drops of pond water tidaled from his jump and landed on me. I looked back at Lance, who emerged in the middle of the water, his hair plastered down over his eyes. As he threaded water, Lance flipped his hair away from his face and grinned at me.

"Come on, don't be such a chicken..." Lance gently chided me, as he stuck his tongue out. I watched him, marveling at how silly he was being. I wasn't sure if he was still a little tipsy from the alcohol or if he was just being goofy and spontaneous.

"No," I said, crossing my arms over my chest and shook my head at him.

"Aww, come on Stephen," Lance begged, giving me the puppy dog eyes once more. "It's so lonely in here...nothing's going to bite." He paused and gave me an evil grin. "Well...I can't make any promises for myself." And with that, he began to float on his back and leisurely began to backstroke, while singing at the top of his lungs.

"Made a mistake when I let you go, baby...I drive myself crazy...wanting you the way that I do..." His deep bass voice reverberated throughout the air, and I couldn't help but smile. Lance was such a beautiful singer I thought with a sigh. How many people would have killed to be in my position?

"Don't you know any other songs besides your own?" I teased him, as he looked up at me. He was about to say something when I saw his head suddenly disappear under the water. He was gone...

"Lance?" I called out, attempting to peer into the dark water. Nothing. The water grew still...and my heart began to beat wildly in my chest, this time not because of lust, but because of fear. "Lance?" I yelled, my voice growing more and more frantic each time. "Come on, this isn't funny. Lance...stop shitting around." Still nothing. `Oh my God', I thought frantically and without another thought, I jumped into the water, my pants and shoes still on. The cool water encircled me as I swam around underneath, keeping my eyes shut the entire time. I was never good at underwater swimming, and even though I thought Lance was in trouble, I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes. My limbs began to move around, desperately hoping that I would feel Lance--an arm, a leg...anything. The seconds began to rush past me as I felt nothing but water surround me. Just as I was about to come up for a breath of air, I felt a hand close around my arm and pull me to the surface of the water.

When I felt my head bob up, I finally opened my eyes. My hair was blocking my vision and I couldn't see a thing. I lifted my hands through the heavy water and pulled my hair away from my eyes, blinking a couple of times only to see Lance floating in front of me, an amused grin on his face.

"Oldest trick in the book and you fell for it," Lance chuckled, as I felt his arms encircle my waist. He pulled me closer to him and grinned at me, his eyes glowing with happiness. But as relieved as I was to see that Lance was okay, I was also freaked out with worry.

"I can't believe you!" I sputtered, water dripping from my hair and down my face. "You're insane, you know that? I thought you--" The words refused leave my throat and I felt tears fill my eyes. "I thought....I mean...I thought something happened to you once before, when you fell from the air and now you do this to me..." I didn't want to say the `d' word. I couldn't. It hurt too much to even think of that.

"Stephen," Lance murmured. "I'm fine. I just tricked you, that's all...I just wanted you here with me..." And with those words, Lance pulled me even closer to him--so close, I felt our stomachs touch. A funny thrill shot through my body at the feeling of Lance's skin so close to mine. There was an ache in my throat as Lance rested his hands on my shoulders and placed a kiss at the hollow of my throat. My head tilted back and I relaxed a little, feeling my shoes brush against the bottom of the pond. It wasn't as deep as I thought it was and that surprised me. Knowing this, I felt my body relax even more as I fell into Lance's embrace.

"You wanted me here? Really?" I asked somewhat dumbly, as though the idea of Lance wanting to be with me was a foreign concept. He nodded shyly and rested his head against my shoulder. In one swift motion, Lance took advantage of the water's buoyancy and wrapped his legs around my hips. As he did this, I could feel his hardness brush against my own, despite the heavy, water soaked clothes that I was still wearing. Lance noticed this and pressed the lower half of his body against mine, smiling as he felt my obvious reaction to it.

"Really," Lance whispered as he reached up to stroke my cheek. There was something wonderful about that particular moment. The feeling of solidarity that overswept Lance and I. It was like we were the only two people on the face of the earth. The gentle noise of the water lapping against our skin and the crickets chirping around us only added to the romantic atmosphere. I gazed into Lance's eyes and noticed the gentle contours of his face as the moonlight beamed down upon us. Lance briefly broke our gaze for a second, before meeting my eyes once more. This time, his cheeks had taken on a slightly pink cast and he seemed clearly embarrassed by the thoughts that were running through his mind. "You wanna know something, Stephen?"

"What?" I asked, as I moved in for a kiss. I guided his lips to mine, brushing them gently against his. His kiss was so sweet, so warm with passion and lust. Lance was right', I thought. When we're together, it is perfect'. He allowed a couple of seconds to pass before speaking once more.

"I kinda had a motive for bringing you here," he murmured under his breath and through the weight of the water, I felt his fingers brush against the button on my pants. He leaned forward while he unbuttoned them, pressing his lips against my bare neck at the same time. "I kinda always wanted to do it here--you know, in the pond, the water. It's always been a..." he cringed slightly, as though he didn't want to admit it. "A fantasy of mine." He wrapped his arms around my neck once he finished unbuttoning my pants.

An aroused smile appeared on my face once I heard Lance say that. "Really?" I asked. I wasn't sure if I should have been surprised by Lance's revelation or not. But at that particular moment, I really didn't care. My concentration was focused on kicking off my pants and shoes. I didn't care that they slowly sank down to the bottom of the pond. That was the least of my worries right then.

"Yup...and since we're here," Lance whispered sheepishly, as he began to slowly grind his hips into mine. "I figured...what the hell, right?" And with that, he moved in for another kiss. I wrapped my arms around his bare torso and held onto him for dear life. His hard member was pressing against mine and even through our wet boxer shorts, I could feel the heat pulsating from it. Our kisses grew more and more desperate as Lance began to thrust his groin into mine. Suddenly all of the joking and laughter dissolved into something much more passionate and intense. I felt my head begin to spin as Lance licked around my lips, one hand brushing up and down my back while the other slipped down my boxers and gently stroked my ass. Our flesh was pressed together and I could feel his heart beating rapidly next to mine. Lance pulled his mouth away from mine for a moment, to catch a breath while letting out a moan of desire at the same time.

Needing Lance like I've never had needed him before, I began to slip my hands past the elastic band of his boxer shorts, cupping his ass, while bringing the lower half of his body even closer to mine. As Lance moved his body against me, the water began to lap wildly against our bodies. Losing complete control of himself, Lance began to unknowingly dig his fingernails into my back, while leaning forwards and sinking his teeth into my shoulder. His hips continued to thrust into mine, faster and faster. He met my eyes briefly before closing them, completely losing himself in the moment. I held onto him as tightly as I could, while his nails began to drag a painful path down my back. I winced at the feeling, but forgot about it as his thrusts grew more and more intense. Our bodies moved in unison, and needing to taste Lance, I roughly placed my lips against his, cutting off a moan that dared to escape my throat. I couldn't control myself anymore. I needed this man more than anything in the world. He was my sanctuary, my light at the end of the tunnel. Lance was the only thing that I ever desired so passionately and this moment was no exception. As these thoughts whirled through my mind, I suddenly felt Lance's body tense in my arms. His limbs had gone rigid and there was an obvious change in his breathing.

"Stephen," Lance whispered into my ear, his voice ragged with desire and his eyelids heavy with arousal. "I think I'm gonna come." With those words, I felt Lance uncontrollably thrust his hips one last time into mine, as his actions matched his words. I could feel an undeniable liquid warmth fill the tight space between us, while Lance attempted to muffle his groans by pressing his lips into the crook of my neck. I felt his body spasm a few more times before peacefully relaxing in my arms.

"Stephen," Lance managed to murmur into my skin "Oh Lord..." He pulled his face away from my neck and looked at me, looking as though the wind had been knocked out of him. As he examined my face, a content, sleepy look filled his magnificent green eyes.

"You...you...alright?" I managed to gasp, shaken by what had just occurred between us. It had seemed like ages since Lance and I had shared something this intimate together. And he had been right--we needed to do this--I felt different, for the better. The happiness that had been missing, suddenly radiated throughout my body, as Lance leaned over and gave me a passionate kiss.

"Wonderful," Lance sighed and I felt his legs unwrap from around my waist, allowing the cool water to meet my body. As I threaded water, I watched Lance swim away from me and towards the pond's edge. The happy feeling that had filled my body, was replaced by a wave of disappointment that swept through me. I watched as Lance pulled himself out of the pond, water dripping from the transparent, soaked boxer shorts that hung from his body. And although that was a nice visual, I knew that I wanted more than what had just happened between Lance and I. As Lance took a seat on the soft, downy grass, he turned his head as though he had expected me to be there next to him. A look of surprise registered on his face when he realized that I wasn't there, and he whipped his head around to see that I was still threading water.

"Stephen?" Lance questioned, a smile playing on his lips. "What are you waiting for? An engraved invitation or something?" I let out a soft, relieved laugh as I glided through the water and pulled myself out of the pond. As I took a seat next to Lance, a blush swept over my face as I noticed my own erection clearly visible through my own wet boxer shorts. This did not escape Lance, who knocked me to the ground before I could even get settled down next to him. I could feel the soft blades of grass poke into my back as I hit the ground. Lance hovered above me, peering at me, while tracing a path down the middle of my chest. His finger briefly circled around my nipples, before he continued downwards, past my stomach and down the light trail of hair that lead to my neither regions. My breath caught in my throat as Lance ran his finger over the tip of my penis. I floated out of my body just then, paralyzed by the sensations that ran rampant throughout me. The muggy air hit my damp skin with a vengeance, but that disappeared once Lance pressed his body to mine, tipped his head downwards and kissed me again.

"Someone's eager, aren't they?" I laughed gently, my voice was full of teasing and excitement. I was so happy to be with Lance. This was our time together--it belonged to Lance and I, and damn the rest of the world or what they thought of us. Who the fuck cared about them? All my world consisted of was Lance and I...

"Yup," Lance answered thickly, as he ran his index finger back up my breastbone. His eyes focused deep into mine and he gave me another soft smile, illuminating his beautiful features once more before placing a soft kiss on my lips. His lips moved lower, down to my neck, lingering over both of my nipples and down the trail of light hair present on my stomach. Lance dipped his tongue into my navel for the briefest of seconds, before quickly pulling off my boxer shorts and tossing them off. I heard a `splash' and it took me a few seconds to realize that they must have landed in the water. I would have laughed at that, but Lance's actions distracted me from my thoughts. He began to place light, feathery kisses along my hipbone, while gently running his hand up and down my thigh.

"Lance," I murmured, as I reached downwards to run my hands through his wet hair. He looked up, flashed me a mischievous grin, and then allowed his soft lips to close around my erection. "Oh God, that feels..." I became incapable of finishing any sentences. My body had turned to nothing and I felt like I was on a different planet. All I was aware of was Lance, who was currently working me into am unbridled frenzy. His mouth slid up and down my swollen shaft, before coming back up to gently lick the drop of precum that had appeared at the top of the head. And then he dove back down once more.

Lance worked me over for a few more minutes, until my body was trembling with anticipation. I felt my body shift and my hands formed clenched fists as they pulled out clumps of dew-heavy grass next to me, when Lance suddenly removed his mouth from me. He crawled back up and placed his mouth over mine, kissing me with an intense passion. And although I loved it when our mouths met, I had to break away from him.

"Lance...why'd you stop?" I managed to gasp, my voice full of frantic worry and need. This wasn't funny at all. His eyes blanked for a moment, before a devilish grin flew over his face.

"Truth or dare, Stephen," he said, as he rested himself on his elbows. I let out a groan of frustration at Lance's teasing, light tone. Why was he flirting with me like this? What was he trying to do to me? Drive me into the loony bin for sexual deprivation?

"Lance...why?!?!" I cried out, not able to hold back my anxiety any longer. When it was clear that he wasn't going to answer me, unless I played his game, I sighed and caved in.

"Dare," I said, not caring what words left my mouth. A satisfied grin appeared on Lance's face when I said that and I knew I had chosen the right answer.

"Stephen...I...I need you," he answered almost shyly as he fell onto his back. "I need you and I want you to..." His words trailed off and he gave me a knowing smile. It took me a few seconds to get his message, but when I finally did, a smile lit up my face and I rolled myself on top of Lance, placing sloppy kisses on his neck. He let out a stifled moan as I did this, and I smiled, pleased with his reaction. Another thought popped into my mind, bringing my kisses to an abrupt halt.

"Sweetie," I sighed, as I allowed my hand to roam down his chest. "What if someone sees us? And takes pictures?" I don't know why I had thought of that. Maybe it was because Lance and I were naked as the day, lying in the grass, ready to engage in an activity that should have been regaled to the bedroom.

Lance laughed softly, as he reached up and tugged on my earlobe. "I don't care--if someone does take pictures of us, at least I'll finally get to see how beautiful we look together." My heart melted upon hearing those words. For some reason, Lance was blessed with the gift of saying the right thing at the right time. And I loved him for that. How could I have not been swept up in the moment?

We kissed for a few more seconds, and everytime our tongues met, I felt like electrical impulses were being sent to my heart. My thumbs stroked his cheekbones as I pulled myself upright, running my hands leisurely down Lance's statuesque chest. I bent over and began to lick around his hardening nipples, gently biting on one before leaning back up and continued to run my hands lower. I stopped once I reached his groin and yanked off his boxer shorts with an intensity that even surprised me. Shifting myself into a kneeling position, I wrapped my lips around Lance's throbbing erection, going down on it, until the tip of his head tickled the back of my throat. A low wail escaped his lips as I continued to tease the sensitive organ with my tongue until I felt that Lance had enough. Pulling myself into a sitting position, I ran my hands across his thighs and gently parted them, positioning the lower half of my body in between.

I lifted his thighs up and positioned my erection against his hole. I could hear his breathing grow raspier and heavier as the seconds passed. A look of rapture came over his face as I began to work my precum around his opening. He let out a soft, almost tortured whimper as I did this, shutting his eyes at my actions. He looked a little scared. We hadn't done this much--Lance was never the one on his back, I always was--and I knew that while he wanted me to do this, he also was a bit apprehensive. I sensed this, so I leaned over and placed another soft, reassuring kiss on his mouth. I was rewarded with a smile and a nod. Taking this as my cue, I began to slowly slide myself into my boyfriend. As I expected, a painful cry left his lips and I stopped, still halfway in Lance. God, I didn't want to hurt him. I wanted him to enjoy this as much as I had come to enjoy it, but it wasn't worth it if he was in pain.

"Stephen, don't," Lance ordered me, despite the tears welling up in his eyes. A couple of them slid down his cheek. "Please...don't stop. I need this. I want this so badly, you don't know." He nodded again to reinforce his words and I continued, slowly and gently entering Lance, until I was completely inside of him. I looked back up at him and he nodded, signaling me to go on.

It felt so different being inside of Lance, compared to the way he felt inside of me. He was tighter than I had expected, but I kept working in and out, watching the expression on Lance's face change from hesitant to exhilarated. He tossed his head from side to side, biting his lip so that he wouldn't moan loud enough for the next six towns over to hear him. I moved faster and faster, leaning over to kiss him as I slid in and out.

"Stephen," Lance whispered as I placed a kiss on his collarbone. "I love you--oh Lord, I love you."

"I love you too," I whispered back, and as I leaned forward, I trapped his already hard penis in between our bodies. The friction drove us both distraught with excitement and I continued to move thrust myself in and out of him for God only knows how long. Finally, Lance let out another moan, unable to control his pleasure any longer. As my body shifted, I could feel Lance's body shake with expectation. He wrapped his arms around my torso, bringing me closer to him. And as he placed a kiss on my lips, I felt him come for the second time that evening. The hot, sticky fluid pooled between us, and I suddenly felt my body tremble with anticipation. The expression on my face must have changed as well, because Lance just smiled at me, and pulled my face to his.

"Come on Stephen," he whispered, staring intensely into my eyes. "I need you..."

Those words triggered my orgasm and I came in Lance, my body shaking violently as it happened. The feeling was incredible, stirring something inside of me...I had never felt more alive in my life, as our mouths met in a passionate kiss. I loved the man that lay under me. I loved him more than anyone else in the world, and I had never felt closer to him, than I did now. I know how hokey it sounds, but that's what I truly felt at that moment and no one could take that away from me.

With those thoughts embedded in my mind, I left Lance's body and rolled myself onto the grass, the spiky blades poking into my back. I attempted to catch my breath, as I stared at the night sky that opened up above me. I was at peace...everything seemed perfect. Next to me, I could hear Lance trying to catch his breath, and then I felt his hand softly brush against mine.

"Stephen..." I heard him whisper. "You alright?"

I nodded, even though I knew that he couldn't see it. "I'm fine, Lance...I didn't hurt you did I?" I asked, my voice filled with concern. I somehow mustered up enough energy to roll myself onto my side so that I could look at my boyfriend. He looked like an angel, I thought as my eyes took in his body. His blonde hair was mussed up, his eyes aglow and a sleepy smile on his lips as he looked at me.

"God, no," he chuckled softly. "That was the last thing that you did to me..." Leisurely, he reached up and began to stroke my neck. "That was amazing..." I smiled, leaning down to kiss him. In return, Lance wrapped an arm around my body and brought me closer to him, allowing my head to rest on his chest. I could feel his ribcage move up and down as he took in shallow breaths. We lay there, silent for God only knows how long, just basking in the afterglow of the moment that we had shared.

Finally Lance broke the silence. "I think we should be heading back home," he whispered regretfully, as his thumb stroked my shoulder. "I lost all sense of time, but I'm guessing that it's late and I don't want mom and dad worrying about us."

I grinned at his thoughtful comment. "Always worrying about others--isn't that my job?"

"Not anymore," Lance laughed, as he sat up. He looked down at his stomach and his face turned an interesting shade of crimson. "Yeesh, I have to clean myself up. I kinda made a mess, didn't I?"

"Oh please--if you didn't, I'd be a little worried," I joked as I stood up, reaching out to help Lance up. "That would mean that I didn't do something right--and then we'd have to do it all over again."

An excited smile lit up his face. "That's not a bad idea," he grinned. "In fact, I kinda am lovin' that idea." We both laughed at the thought as Lance began to look around for his clothes. He quickly found the articles of clothing that he had worn to dinner and I searched in vain for mine, until I realized that they were sitting at the bottom of the pond.

"Shit," I thought out loud, as I walked over to the water's edge. "My clothes are in here..." I jumped into the warm pond water once more and dove down. But it was no use--it was too dark and too deep for me to venture very far underneath. When I emerged from the water, I found Lance standing in the water next to me, a concerned expression on his face.

"No?" he asked, looking around as though he expected them to float to the surface. I shook my head and groaned.

"What am I going to do?" I asked out loud. "I have no pants, my boxers are gone..." I let out a sigh that seemed to echo off the water, not knowing what I was going to wear. Damnit, I thought, not caring where my clothes had gone seemed so passionate and romantic at the time. To my surprise, Lance wasn't as worried. Instead, he burst into a fit of laughter as he swam away from me.

"It's not funny!" I protested as Lance pulled his body out of the water. "I have no clothes to wear except for my shirt!"

"So you go home half-naked," Lance said, as though he had done it all the time. "No one's gonna see. Except me," he added, wiggling his eyebrows up and down. "And I never get sick of it. Don't worry about it." I let out a sigh as I got out of the water and grabbed for my dress shirt. Pitifully, I wrapped it around my waist, but it didn't work as well as I hoped it would have. Lance attempted to get dressed, but fought a losing battle with his soaking wet boxer shorts. With a carefree shrug, Lance threw them into the water, where they joined mine in an underwater grave.

"Nice," I laughed as we watched them disappear from view. "You could have sold them on ebay--how many people would have bidded on those things." Lance just shrugged and turned to face me once more. My laughter subsided, as a serious look overcame the joyful one on his face.

"Stephen," he whispered as he reached out for me once more. "This night...it was incredible." He drew me a little closer then, and rested his head against my chest. He looked up at me after a couple of seconds passed, and placed another kiss on my lips. I wrapped my arms around his body and held him close to me. I would have been happy to stay that way forever, but I knew that there was no such thing as forever. We had to live in the moment and act on it. And we had.

"It was, wasn't it?" I whispered in his ear as I slowly ran my hand down his spine. "One of those nights that you'll never forget."

"You can say that again," Lance murmured against my chest, punctuating his words by placing a tiny kiss at the base of my throat.

"Okay," I grinned. "It was one of those nights that you'll never forget." Lance looked up at me, an unimpressed look on his handsome face.

"You think you're so funny, don't you?" Lance asked, as he slipped his hand into mine. We began to walk back to his SUV, listening to nothing but the sounds of the twigs and stones crunching underneath our feet.

"I'd like to think I am," I sighed as we reached the vehicle. Lance stopped then and pressed me against the car's exterior. Grinning, he leaned forward and placed one last kiss on my lips. I felt my arms inadvertently wrap around his torso once more, as we kissed each other passionately for what seemed to be the thousandth time that night. But I didn't care. I just couldn't get enough of Lance...everything he did, amazed me. It was as though he had cast a spell over me, one that I didn't want to shake off.

A sigh escaped my lips as we parted once more. He stared into my eyes, and gently picked up my hands into his. "I love you Stephen," he whispered. His voice was so quiet, I could barely make out the words. He lifted my hands up and kissed each of them before speaking once more. "And don't you forget it." And with that, he let go of my hands, and walked over to the drivers side of the vehicle. Unlocking the doors, we climbed inside and headed back home.

It was around four a.m, when Lance and I finally pulled into the driveway of the Bass residence. As we had expected, the house was pitch black. In the dark, Lance and I flashed each other goofy, relieved grins. No one would see us sneak in. No one would see my barefoot, state of half-nakedness. I quietly crept out of the SUV, while Lance gingerly pulled his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the back door. Placing a finger to his lips, Lance and I silently snuck into the kitchen. We took a few, silent steps and just as we were about to enter the living room, we were greeted by a harsh flood of light. I blinked rapidly as my eyes struggled to adjust to the overhead kitchen light that had snapped on. Feeling like someone had knocked me in the head, I looked over at Lance, who reaction to the light was similar to mine.

But what I wasn't prepared for was Diane standing there, clad in a light cotton bathrobe and pair of slippers. Her hand was glued to the light switch and her eyes were wide as she caught sight of her son and his boyfriend standing there in front of her. Diane's coffee colored eyes widened at the sight of us. We were both disheveled, with wayward hair. And then there was me, in my state of undress. I felt my cheeks turn hot as Diane looked me over.

"Lance? Stephen?" she exclaimed, trying her best to keep her voice at a whisper. "It's four in the morning." Her eyes took in the sight of me, holding my hands over the, uh, more personal parts of my anatomy. "What happened to your clothes?" As she asked this, I noticed that Diane's eyes fell on my shoulder, where an impression of her son's teeth embellished my skin. Averting her gaze from that tell tale mark of intimacy, her gaze switched back over to her son. "And why is there grass in your hair, Lance?"

I took a perverse interest in the floor just then, while Lance became amazed by the white ceiling structured over our heads. My face grew even warmer as Diane slapped a hand to her face. She wasn't stupid. I think she knew very well what we had been up to.

"Look, I came down here for some milk. I'm going to walk to the refrigerator and when I turn back around, I'm hoping that both of you will be upstairs by then, and that all of this is some strange nightmare I'm having, okay?" Diane murmured groggily as she made her way to the fridge. "So, good night boys--and let's never speak of this again."

"Okay," Lance and I said in unison as we hightailed it out of there. But not before another low, painful sounding moan escaped Diane's lips. I wondered what she had seen that made her sigh like that, but at that moment, I didn't care and neither did Lance. All we wanted to do was get upstairs, and into our respective beds. We climbed the staircase in silence, with me leading the way. When we did reach the second floor, Lance followed me into the guest bedroom.

"What are you doing in here? Go to back to your room...unless you want your father hear us and come see what we're doing in here," I hissed, as Lance shut the door behind him and flipped on the light that sat on the nightstand next to the bed. His eyes searched my body for a couple of seconds and when they fell on a certain spot, a knowing smirk filled his face.

"Turn around," Lance ordered me. I raised a curious eyebrow at him, but he just made a little motioning signal with his hand and I did as he told me to. When my back was to him, I heard him chortle.

"I did a bang up job on you," Lance snickered, as he grabbed my elbow and led me over to the mirror that hung over the dresser. I was about to protest when my eyes somehow caught the sight of my back, completely scratched up from someone's nails. The cuts on my back were a bright, vivid red in color and extremely painful looking.

"Oh that's really attractive," I murmured as I turned away from the mirror, not wanting to look at my body anymore. Lance gently ran a finger down one of the scratches, which caused me to wince in anguish. They hurt terribly, but for some odd reason, I liked that Lance had scarred me the way he did. They reminded me of war scars, I thought with a snicker. Was that sick? Without answering my question, I turned back to Lance, who stood before me with a slightly guilty look on his face.

"I'm sorry, Stephen," Lance sighed. "I really am....but I think that's why my poor mother let out that sigh..." He shook his head in embarrassment. "You can tell what those scratches are from...I don't think she needed to see that, did she?"

"Nope, but look on the bright side," I chirped. "At least she didn't kick me out of here. Or wake up your father." Lance buried his face in his hands at the thought and let out a soft groan.  "Oh Lord...that would have been a spectacle and a half. You half naked with your back looking like that. Me with--" Lance walked over to the mirror and examined himself critically. "--Grass in my hair and mud on my neck....and my father seeing it all." He rolled his eyes heavenward, with thoughts of what could have been. "Wonderful..."

"Yeah," I agreed lamely, turning to my suitcase to look for a pair of boxer shorts. When I found a pair, I slipped them on, over my hips and unknotted the shirt around my waist. As Lance watched me cover myself back up, a soft smile appeared on his face. When I realized that he was watching me, I looked up and met his steadfast gaze. A chill ran down my spine, as his intense gaze reminded me of someone who had completely lost themselves in the moment. I could tell that his mind was working overtime--what he was thinking about, I would have liked to know, but I wasn't going to ask. Some thoughts had to be private. And maybe this was one of them. Everyone has to have those thoughts from time to time...

"Stephen," Lance suddenly spoke up. "Thank you for tonight." He strode over to me and placed his arms around my neck, a soft kiss landing on my forehead.

"Thank me?" I asked in wonder. "Thank you. You took me out to the lake." Lance shook his head wildly in protest.

"No--if it weren't for you, we wouldn't have had dinner with Stacey and Ford...I got my sister back because of you, Stephen. I don't think I can ever repay you for that, you know." A radiant grin took over Lance's perfect features, making him (if it was possible) more beautiful then ever. "I love you." Another kiss, this time on the lips.

"I love you too, Lance. And I did that because I wanted to--not because I felt I had to. I'd do anything for you, Lance...you know I would," I whispered solemnly, as my arms tightened possessively around his waist. I wanted to hold him forever...

Another kiss on the lips. Another. And another. I felt something inside of me stir, and my heartbeat began to beat like a drum. A light sheen of sweat formed on my body as I pulled Lance closer to me. His hands ran frantically through my hair and a persistent ache in my groin began to appear. We continued with our frenzied kisses, until Lance pulled his mouth away from mine, a look of regret appearing on his face. "Okay, I've got to get to my room," he said sadly. "Any more of this and you might have a sleeping partner."

"Am I complaining?" I teased him, as he left my arms and made his way to the door. He placed his hand on the knob and just as he was about to turn it, he spun himself back around to me.

"Good night, Stephen," He whispered across the room. "I love you."

"I love you too, Lance. Sweet dreams," I sighed, placing my fingertips to my lips. He gave me another serene smile and with that exited out of my life for that night. I found myself standing in the middle of my room, replaying his last words over and over in my mind. And then, feeling incredibly exhausted, I hit the lights and fell into my bed, my mind filled with dreams that I never wanted to forget.

Waking up the next morning was torture. I could barely move and to make matters worse, Lance's Uncle Jeff had called while we had been out at dinner the night before. He wanted to see me that morning, to discuss my mother's will and of course Lance insisted on accompanying me. Not that I minded at all. In fact, I was hoping that he would want to come along with me.

It had been fun (yeah right--and maybe sticking a fork in my eyeballs would be fun too). It was a blast rehashing the old memories of my bitter, deceased mother in order to get part of her estate. Yeah, after last night, I really wanted to think about that. I won't bore you with the details of what went on, because, well...it was boring. Jeff asked me a round of difficult, somewhat painful questions. He was particularly interested in the medicinal cocktails that my mother downed before she slit her wrists, and whether or not she had an autopsy (she did). Jeff was nice and didn't even bat an eyelash when I broke down in the middle of the office and Lance grabbed my hand in order to soothe me. That was nice, I reflected as I lay in my hammock, swinging back and forth. If you could forget about the morning, the afternoon was heaven.

The sun beat down on Lance and I as we lay next to each other in separate hammocks. The swaying of our bodies controlled how fast we swung back and forth, and sometimes, if we were in sync (ha ha ha, no pun intended. Really.) we would bump into each other, causing us to laugh and then go back to our leisurely rest.

We really didn't say anything, and instead just allowed our skin to soak in the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. This was the first time in ages that we truly felt relaxed. There were no family crisises hanging over our heads (well, mine, but there was really nothing that I could do about it), no siblings banishing us to eternal damnation...nothing like that. Just peace and quiet. The birds chirping in the air and the wind rustling through the trees. Kids from down the street, yelled and shrieked with their playtime amusement. And the occasional, content sigh that would break loose from either Lance's or my throat. It was perfect...and it couldn't get any better than this, I thought closing my eyelids and shutting myself off from the world.

And then a high pitched, ear drum shattering male voice pierced the silence.

"Lance! Look! It's Lance from `N Sync! And he's lying around, being a bum, just like a normal person!! Oh. My. Gawd!!!!" came the grating shriek. I sat up gingerly, not wanting to fall onto the ground, and saw none other than Joey Fatone walking towards us, a huge, excited grin on his face.

"Joey!" I exclaimed as I swung my legs over the hammock, placing them steadily on the ground. There was an art to getting out of a hammock and as I stood up, I think I had mastered it. Lance looked up at his friend, lifted his arm and gave Joey a lazy wave.

"Joe! What are you doing here?" Lance called out, still not bothering to move from his place in the hammock. Not bothering to answer his bandmate, Joey strode over to me and took me by surprise, grabbing me in a big bear hug.

"Stephen, man--you doing okay?" he asked me, his voice gruff with both concern and emotion. "I'm really sorry about what happened to you mother, you know?" His eyes grew sad as we both thought of my mom's impromptu death, before he continued on. "Although I was ready to kick your ass in when you left Scoop here." Joey finally let go of me and eyed me critically. "That was low, not telling Lance about your mom." His face melded into a brief scowl at what I had done, but then was quickly replaced by one of his charming grins.

"Thanks, Joey," I said dryly. "Really appreciate that."

"No problem, man," he answered, slapping me on the back and nearly knocking my teeth out. "Just don't do it again." Joey then turned back around and looked over at his relaxed bandmate, who still hadn't bothered to get out of the hammock and greet him. "Lance, man--are you gonna lay in there all day?"

"Yup," Lance answered shortly, a smile lighting up his face. He lowered his sunglasses to peer at Joey. "That's all I'm doing today. I am tired. Exhausted. Completely beat."

"Tired?" Joey asked, confusion seeping into his voice. He had no idea what could have made Lance so tired, that is, until the dirty part of Joey's mind clicked on. "What are you so tired from, huh Scoop?" Joey swung his gaze from Lance to me, and then back again, all the while grinning at us devilishly. Instead of acknowledging Joey's remark, I chose to stare at the ground underneath my feet. Lance and I were equally bad at hiding the truth and it couldn't have been more evident at that moment, as bright red patches of color spread across both of our faces. Lance was just about to defend himself, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw JC Chasez stroll into the Bass's backyard, his arm looped around the waist of a redheaded girl.

I did a double take. A redhead? Josh's arm protectively encircled the attractive girl's waist. Her auburn hair was cut into a neat parted bob that framed her oblong shaped face, while a pair of stylish mirrored aviator-type sunglasses masked her eyes. The coupled waltzed up to me and my mouth went as dry as the Sahara. `Where the hell was Cynthia?,' I frantically thought. Did Josh actually have the nerve to cheat on my cousin? I began to panic--not because Josh was acting pretty friendly with another girl who was not my cousin, but because if Cynthia found out (and she would--she's like a bloodhound when it comes to men), Josh would be dead. Once, Cynthia had nearly started the house of one her exes on fire when she found out he was seeing another girl on the side. It was common knowledge that you didn't mess with Cynthia--everyone knew that.

"Hey Stephen," Josh said casually, giving me a wave. "Good to see you again." He wrapped his arms a little tighter around the redhead's slim waist and I began to sputter. How could he so brazenly flaunt this girl in front of me, when he knew that Cynthia was my cousin? I stood there, frozen, staring at the two of them, while Joey observed us with interest. A moment of silence passed as my mind reeled. What do I say? Did I have the right to even butt my two cents in?

Suddenly, the girl disentangled herself from Josh's embrace and walked directly up to me. I saw my bewildered reflection mirrored in her sunglasses, as she stared at me from behind them, placing her hands on her hips. `Who did she think she was?', I thought with disdain, trying to control my face from forming into a scowl. I was about to give Josh a piece of my mind, when the girl's pink glossed lips curved into a wicked smile.

"Stevie--I'm shocked at you! Simply shocked! Doesn't your favorite cousin even warrant a hello?" she asked, her voice full of sugar as she reached out and tickled me under my chin. It took me a few seconds for the voice to match the person in front of me.

"Cynthia?" I asked in amazement, not sure if the girl in front of me was in fact, my dear cousin. "Is that you?" With a bubbly laugh, Cynthia dramatically whipped off her sunglasses, nearly whacking me in the head.

"Well, duh!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around my neck and jumping on me at the same time. As Cynthia continued with her back-breaking strangulation, I glanced over at Joey and Josh, who by now were laughing so hard, tears were falling from their eyes. "You know I'm the queen of hair dye! What's wrong with you, Stevie? Too much time with Lancey-poo and you lose your sense of reality, right?" Cynthia asked slyly. My face turned redder than a tomato as the guys continued to chuckle at my obvious confusion.

"You should have seen your face," Joey guffawed, as he wiped his eyes. "You really had no idea who Cynthia was, did you Stephen?"

"I know my own cousin," I lied pathetically, as Cynthia jumped off on me and landed firmly on her feet. "I'm not that dense, guys."

"Sure," Josh laughed. "Sure you do. That's why you looked like you were about to punch my lights out, right? Thought I was cheating on Cynth, didn't you?"

"No..." I trailed off, hoping that my face wouldn't belie my words. "I...I..."

"Oh come on Stevie, you should know by now that I wouldn't have let Josh off that easy," Cynthia giggled as she eyed Lance, who was still lying in his hammock, oblivious to what was happening. He really was exhausted, I thought with a smile, as the memory of last night floated back into my mind. I couldn't blame him--I was a little tired myself, but I was also happy to see my cousin and some of the other `N Sync guys.

"Hey, Lancey-poo," Cynthia called out, brushing a strand of auburn hair out of her eyes. "Aren't you gonna say hello to me?"

Raising his head just slightly, Lance gave her a smile and lifted his hand, giving her a lackadaisical wave. "Hey Cynth," he called out, resting his head back down. I looked back at my cousin, knowing full well that Lance's paltry greeting wasn't good enough for her. Narrowing her eyes, Cynthia took off running towards him at full speed, a mischievous grin forming on her lips. She leapt into the air, looking almost graceful, flying through the air like superman would.

"Lancey!!" she squealed as she soared through the air. The look on Lance's face was priceless as he saw Cynthia coming down towards him, flopping on top of him. As her body hit his, the hammock that Lance had been peacefully lying in, tipped over a full 360 degrees, knocking both of them to the ground.

Joey, Josh and I watched with both horror and amusement as Cynthia lay on top of Lance, a huge grin on her face as she greeted Lance with a big, sloppy kiss on the lips. A shocked look crossed his face when he realized that my cousin was giving him the lip lock of a lifetime. I looked over at Josh, expecting him to be rendered jealous by the fact that his girlfriend was kissing his bandmate, but instead, Josh was doubled over, laughing his ass off. Lance, on the other hand, was a completely different story.

"Cynthia!" he wailed, like he was in horrible pain. Lance was unable to move, pinned underneath my cousin as she continued to place kisses on his face. "What the hell is going on? What's happening to me?" The three of us could barely contain ourselves as I watched my helpless boyfriend endure the wrath of an ignored Cynthia. Finally, she subsided her kisses and stared at him with a unmerciful grin, before pulling herself off of him.

"That's what you get when you don't give me a proper hello!" Cynthia proclaimed triumphantly, as she brushed herself off. Realizing that Lance was still sprawled out on the ground, she reached down, slid her hands under his arms and pulled him off the ground.

"Wuss," she teased him, while he scowled at her. "Come on--tell me that you didn't love that!" Cynthia grinned at Lance, until he finally broke down and couldn't help but laugh at her antics.

"Okay, I give," he said, wrapping his arms around my cousin. "Yes, I missed you Cynthia--but remind me to give you a more enthusiastic hello, next time, okay?" A giggle bubbled from Cynthia's throat and as I watched her, I could tell that she was completely in her element, surrounded by three handsome guys that weren't related to her.

"That's better," she admonished him, and walked back over to Josh, who greeted his girlfriend with a kiss. "Ahhh, you can't beat that," I heard Cynthia murmur as she snuggled her face into Josh's chest. Lance walked over to me, shaking his head in disbelief.

"She's something else," Lance muttered, as he brushed himself off. "I can't believe you two are related." He finished off his statement with a smile, letting me know that he wasn't angry. Lance then turned his attention to Joey, who was standing there, looking as though he felt out of place. Josh had Cynthia, I had Lance, and poor Joey had no one.

"So Joe," I called out, wanting to include him into the conversation. "What are you guys doing here, anyways? Don't call, don't let us know you're coming--what gives?"

Joey flashed me a grateful smile, as he stepped closer to Lance and I. "Well..." he began, shuffling his feet. "We kinda had a motive for coming here." Lance looked at him with a `now what' expression on his face.

"What?" Lance asked impatiently, as he walked over to the porch. "Joe--what kind of mess did you get yourself in now?"

Joey smiled at his friend's warning tone of voice. "There's the old Scoop again," he reminisced. "Always trying to take care of business and stuff. Naw, I'm not in trouble--no one is...it's just that we all wanted to go and see Justin and Chris in Florida."

"Huh?" Lance looked at Joey with some confusion. "Go visit Justin and Chris? Like a group field trip? Aren't we old enough to go visit them by ourselves, when we want to?" Josh and Cynthia walked over, their arms wrapped around each other's waists.

"Not like a group field trip, but Josh wanted to go down there and see Just and Chris," Cynthia explained as she stepped on her boyfriend's shoes. "And then he came up to Wisconsin for that surprise visit, and since I've never been to Florida, he decided to bring me along with him to," she said simply as Josh stepped on her shoes in retaliation. The two of them began to mock fight with each other, tickling each other's sides before falling onto the grass and rolling around. Joey, Lance and I watched them for a few seconds, before Joey picked up the rest of the story.

"Anyways," Joey continued, "I found out where Josh was, and told him I was going down to Orlando--it just kinda fell into place," He ran a hand through his dark hair and smiled. "Then Cynth here said that you--" Joey pointed to me. "Were down here in Miss with Lance...so we decided to swing by and see if you two wanted to come along. So here we are. What do you say? Yes? No?"

Lance and I looked at each other and shrugged. The idea of going to Florida was so spur of the moment, so crazy...but for some reason it fit my life perfectly and the way that I had lived it for the past two months. Spur of the moment. So what should this be any different?

"You wanna go?" Lance asked, taking my wants into concern. "I mean, we don't have to..."

"Your uncle can just call us if there's news, right?" I asked Lance hopefully. For some reason, I wanted to get out of Mississippi. It wasn't that I hated it here or anything. In fact, I really liked it..mugginess included. It was just that being alone with Lance last night had spoiled me. Our little rendevouz had reminded me just how special the time we shared together actually was. And I had missed that. Plus, it was kinda hard to be romantic with each other when Jim and Diane were breathing down our necks.

"Yup--Uncle Jeff has my Orlando number," Lance nodded, a slow smile appearing on his lips. "So what do you say? Little side trip to Florida?" I wordlessly bobbed my head up and down, a feeling of excitement growing inside of me as we stood up from the porch. As we headed inside to pack, I could hear my cousin squealing as Josh teased her, and the rowdy laughter of Joey as he observed the happy couple. Hearing them seemed like a promise of good things that were to come our way. Maybe this is what we needed, I thought. Maybe we just needed to get away from all of the problems that had been dogging us these past few days. Lance and I had to let loose, get a little crazy and get really drunk. It seemed like the answer to everything...it was so simple...

And suddenly the future didn't seem so bleak anymore.

So it's the return of Cynthia (can I have a collective `woo-hoo' here? Enough of people have asked me where she's been--ahem, Val!) and a trip to Florida....I'm working on the next chapter as much as I can

Once again, please email me about this chapter. It seems that I never get mail after the more...um..risque chapters (like this one), so if you could find it in your heart to email me, I'd appriciate it so much, I'll do cartwheels!!! The email addy is sweetheart_stories@hotmail.com Use it, know it, love it.

Biology test next week. Pray for me :) Thanks for reading and good night...Gabriella.