Hi everyone!
This is chapter 15-16 of my continuing story. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the e-mails that I keep receiving about this story. I really appreciate everyone's kind comments and thoughts and encouragement. Remember, if you want to send more e-mail to me (I love e-mail!) then the address is sweetheart_stories@hotmail.com. Not only do I accept comments, but I take donations of money as well :)
Of course, no opening would be complete without thanking Justin, Clarke, and Damon. You guys are great and my writings wouldn't be the same without your constant encouragement. Words cannot express how much I thank you :) so we'll leave it at that!
DISCLAIMER: This is a fictional story, not meant to imply the sexuality of `N Sync or Lance Bass. Um...you know the rest--18 or 21 depending where you live, m/m relationship--you don't like it, leave, good-bye. You do? Then read on...
My Surprise Romance
Chapter 15
After rehearsal, Lance and I headed back to the hotel, so we could have lunch via room service. The rest of the guys, as well as my cousin, went out to some local trendy restaurant to eat, flanked by bodyguards. As they got into a van, I noticed that Cynthia took a seat next to Josh, smiling at him like mad. I wish I could have felt the same way. Instead I was a nervous wreck...my stomach was jumpy, and the thought of lunch made me queasy.
Once we were back in our hotel room, Lance immediately pressed me up against the door, and kissed me. He pressed his body against mine in anticipation. But as much as I enjoyed it, I had to push him away.
"We need to talk before we go any further," I said as walked over to the bed, sat down and attempted to catch my breath. He looked at me with curious green eyes, and took a seat next to me.
"What's wrong, Stephen? What did I do?" he asked, a bit sadly. He placed his hand on my kneecap and gently rubbed it.
I couldn't help but sigh in pleasure as he did this. But I had to get down to business. Fast. Before my resistance crumbled under his touch. "Lance...why do you like me?" I said as quickly as possible. Those few words that tumbled out of my mouth, sounded silly to my ears. Like I was a whining little boy, asking some stupid childish question.
Lance, however, didn't think it was so funny. "Why do I like you?" he said, sounding a bit taken aback. "What brought this on?" he asked, turning towards me, scratching his head.
"I mean, what attracted you to me in the first place? Why me? Why do you like me?" I said, the words sounding frantic to my ears. I was losing composure and that was the one thing that I didn't want to do. Lance noticed this and placed his arms around me, like he always did. And like the effect they always had, I felt immediately better and more at ease. I felt safe.
"Why do I like you?" Lance whispered in my ear. "I like you because you're Stephen. You're mine. You're easy to get along with--" I cut him off.
"Oh, so I'm easy? That explains a lot." I teased him gently as he smiled at me.
"And you're funny. Not to mention undeniably cute. Even with that crooked nose," he pointed out, kissing the tip of it. I felt my heart race as I heard myself say another stupid thing.
"You mean I'm not just convenient?" I said, looking at him. His face screwed up in a look of pure shock.
"Convenient?" Lance repeated in bewildered amazement. "What are you talking about?"
What was I talking about? All of my thoughts, which had sounded so sane when I was in the auditorium, now sounded like the ramblings of an insane person. "Well," I began slowly, letting my fingers trace a path on his thigh. "I mean we met when you had that long break between concert dates. I was around. I wasn't seeing anyone...I just thought..."
"You just thought that I liked you because there was no one else?" Lance finished up for me, placing another soft kiss on my lips. "Right?"
"Right," I agreed, feeling relieved that Lance had understood me so well. His arms tightened around me a bit and I felt my tense addled body relax a little bit.
"Stephen, think about this. If I was just using you for your`convenient' status, then why would I leave the tour and risk losing everything for you?" Lance asked me, making me look into his eyes. "Think about that, okay, honey?" I nodded, and he went on. "Do you think I would just fall into bed with anyone because their convenient?"
"I don't know--would you?" It was my lame attempt at a menial joke. But it didn't cause Lance to laugh.
"I'm serious," he replied. "Do you think I really would climb into bed and do what we did that first night? Especially when I've never done that before?" His voice had dropped and he stared at his hands for a moment. "Stephen, I was scared beyond belief when we slept together. I wanted to so badly and when we did, it confirmed that I am gay. It wasn't some kind of crush I had on you--I really like you." To my horror, I noticed that when Lance looked back at me, his beautiful eyes began to fill with tears.
"I still have to tell my parents about this and do you know how that scares the shit out of me? Especially after I saw how your mom reacted? I've always dated girls before you and now I'm with a guy." He looked at me, the tears now falling freely from his eyes. "How are they going to react? When I come home and say, `Mom, dad--meet my boyfriend'? And I know that they won't be happy--but I am. I've never been happier in my life." He paused to wipe away the tears. "So don't you ever say you were convenient to me, Stephen Peterson. I would give up everything to be with you."
By that time, we were both crying. Him, for his situation, and me for feeling like a class A jerk. I felt my heart beat rapidly, not because of nervousness, but because I finally felt relieved. He did like me for who I was. And I couldn't believe that I had doubted his feelings for me. I reached over and grabbed a tissue from the box that sat on the nightstand and wiped his face off. After a few seconds, Lance began to laugh.
"Look at us--two big crying queens," he managed to joke. I laughed at that, wiping my face with the back of my hand. We held each other for a few more seconds, when I noticed a tear sliding down his cheek. I kissed it away, and he responded to my gesture by placing his mouth on top of mine and passionately kissing me, his tongue entering my mouth and meeting mine. He gently laid me down on top of the neatly made bed, and began sliding his hands under my shirt. It surprised me that we had gone from sentimental to lustful in a matter of seconds--and I, for one was not about to complain.
I felt myself begin to grasp the comforter, twisting it around in my hands as Lance ripped my t-shirt off of me in a fit of passion. I stared at him, shocked by how fervent he had become as he began to move down my half-naked body, letting his lips trail over my skin. He straddled me, grinding his hips against mine and slowly ran his tongue over my nipples, causing me to let out such loud moans, I was surprised that the entire hotel didn't hear. Lance then stopped his actions, and smiled shyly at me as his hands slowly began to work at my belt, undoing the buckle and then the button on the jeans.
Then all of a sudden he stopped, and looked at me, a seductive smile on his face. He stood up, grabbed my hands and pulled me off the bed, letting my pants fall to the floor and began to lead me to the bathroom
"Someone promised me a shower this morning," Lance said huskily, as he continued to walk backwards, never letting his eyes leave mine. I could barely speak as I managed to step out of my pants, as Lance pulled me to his body again and kissed me, letting his hands slide into my boxer shorts. The moment that Lance touched me, I pushed him into that bathroom, unable to stand it any longer.
We kept kissing each other, our tongues dancing around in each others mouths. I grabbed the bottom of his sweatshirt and pulled it over his head, breaking our kisses for a brief second. Lance leaned over and managed to turn on the water in the shower, while I let my hands fall to the waistband of his track pants. I pulled them down, falling to my knees. Lance was looking down at me, waiting to see what I would do next. I began to kiss his stomach, resting my hands on his ass. Slowly, I licked down the light trail of hair that lead down to his lower regions and let my tongue dip into his navel for a brief second.
"Stephen..." he groaned softly, as I continued to taste his skin for a few more seconds. Then I let my teeth grasp the waistband of his boxers and quickly pulled them over his erection and down his hips with my teeth, exposing him to my eyes. Once I did that, Lance ran his hands down the sides of my arms, and pulled me off the floor, meeting him at eye level. He kissed me passionately once more, before running his hands down my sides and yanked down my boxers. With a boyish grin on his face, he then pulled me into the shower.
The water hit our bodies as he pressed me against the cool tiles, and placed his mouth on top of mine in an almost desperate gesture of passion. I felt my breathing grow ragged, as I pulled my lips away from his and began to let them trail down the side of his neck, softly kissing his shoulder and then, very suddenly, I dropped to my knees. I looked up at him, only to see him smiling down at me, attempting to control the eager look on his face.
With that I took Lance into my mouth, going slowly at first so I wouldn't gag. I began to apply gentle pressure, slowly letting my tongue caress the ridges as my mouth began to move up and down, all the while inhaling his musky scent. Lance threw his head back, eyes closed, making my heart beat even faster as he ran his fingers through my hair. Slight moans escaped his beautiful mouth as I kept bringing him closer to the edge. I ran my hands from his ass, up his back and then to his dampened pecs, where my fingers gently pinched his hardened nipples. I then brought my hands back down to his ass again where just touching his warm skin was turning me on so fast, I prayed that I would last.
Lance began to thrust his hips, causing the head of his penis to move further back into my throat. I grabbed the base of his shaft and pulled it from my mouth a bit, so I could let my tongue lick at the dampened head. After a few more licks, I felt the muscles in Lance's body tense up. I ran my tongue over the swollen head over and over, before taking the entire shaft into my mouth once more. He began groan in ecstasy and barely spoke, "Stephen, I'm..." before he violently came in my mouth. He held on to my shoulders for dear life as I swallowed his release. As I removed my mouth from him, my mind whirled at what had just happened. After a few seconds, I slowly began working my way back up to his mouth with a trail of passionate kisses, until our lips finally met again in a frantic kiss.
"My turn," Lance said softly once we parted. His eyes lit up in anticipation, as his hands began to run down my wet chest and found their way to my ass. They remained there while he showered my thighs with kisses and then he finally lowered his mouth to my penis. I felt his lips slowly engulf me, as the hot water from the shower head hit our trembling bodies. His began to tug at my balls, driving me almost insane with pleasure, as his mouth continued to suck at my hardness. His tongue ran up and down the swollen shaft, causing my knees began to shake uncontrollably as his fingers reached up and began to play with my hardened nipples. Lance's tongue lapped over my head once more, before I felt my body go rigid. I grabbed onto the back of his head and I finally came in his mouth, letting my pleasure with excruciating groan that echoed off the tiles. Even after I came, Lance continued to work his mouth up and down my now limp penis, causing an exquisite pain throughout my body,before standing back up on his own shaky knees, stopping to lick at my nipples before once again, meeting my mouth.
I kissed him back, letting my tongue snake in between his soft, wet lips. I felt more in love than I had ever felt in my life. Lance grinned at me, looking tired, and wrapped his arms around my naked body.
"I don't mind talking to you if it always leads to this," Lance whispered, as his hand ran up and down my skin. He moved the damp hair away from my face, and looked into my exhausted eyes.
"I thought we were having lunch," I teased him, as he nibbled at my earlobe. He looked at me with a seductive expression on his face.
"And I thought we just did," he replied suggestively, before meeting my lips in another one of his loving kisses.
Once we actually made it out of the shower, which took quite awhile, Lance and I did order room service and ate a nice, leisurely lunch in our room. We were in the middle of a conversation, when a knock on the door interrupted us.
"Who is it?" Lance called out, giving me a look. `Now who?' he mouthed to me, rolling his eyes wearily.
"Josh," the voice replied through the heavy door. "Is it safe to come in there, or will I have to cover my eyes to talk to you?" Lance looked at me, a smile appearing on his face. He beckoned me to come over to him, and then pulled me onto his lap.
"Okay, come on in," Lance called out, wrapping his arms around my neck and snuggled his face in my chest. Josh entered the room, and immediately groaned.
"Come on you two, I asked if it was safe to come in here," he said, shutting his eyes. He peeked one eye open at us and saw the two of us dissolving in fits of laughter. I slid (unwillingly, of course) off his lap, and walked back to my seat.
"What's up, Josh?" Lance asked him, as Josh sat on the bed across from us. "How was lunch?"
"Fine," he answered, his chiseled face turning bright red. Lance and I looked at each other, knowing that Cynthia must have said or done something to make him blush like that. "Lunch was good. We missed you guys though."
"Aww," Lance said, "We'll come to lunch with you guys tomorrow. Promise." He crossed his heart and took a sip of his drink. "So how much longer until we have to get ready?" he questioned, leaning back in his chair.
Josh looked at his watch. "About two hours--hey, Scoop, did you know we have to meet some more contest winners before the show?" Josh asked. Lance looked at him in shock.
"What? How come no one told me about this? I'm usually the first one to know about this kind of stuff." Lance said, visibly upset. Josh looked uncomfortable for a moment, and hesitated to open his mouth. Finally, he spoke.
"Look, Lance--we know you like to stay on top of stuff like that, but me and the rest of the guys..." he trailed off, and I could tell he was thinking on how to put his next words more delicately. "We just don't want to bother you..."
"Why not? That's my job," Lance said a bit nervously. I avoided either Josh's or my boyfriend's gaze. I knew why no one wanted to bother him and it boiled down to one word: me. It was my fault that Lance had been slacking off on his duties as the group's organized businessman. All of his free time had been spent with me...and I felt terrible.
"Well, you're just spending so much time with Stephen," Josh said, careful not sound offending or angry. He looked at me and gave me a anxious smile, letting me know that he wasn't upset. "Not that I'm berating you or anything, Stephen...it's just that, you two seem so happy. We don't want to bother you guys."
Lance stood up, pushing his chair away from the table. "So you guys don't think I'm capable of handling a relationship and taking care of the groups business, is that it?" Lance said, his slight accent growing deeper as he became angrier.
"Lance, no, that's not what I meant," Josh said in frustration. "It's just--"
Lance cut him off. "It's just what?" he said in a challenging voice, walking up to Josh and meeting him eye to eye. Josh hesitated.
"It's just that you split out on the group. You missed interviews and everytime one of tries to talk to you, your head is in the clouds." Josh paused. "I'm happy that you found someone, Scoop, I really am. And so are the rest of the guys, but...we can't be certain that you'll keep the promises that you make."
I closed my eyes at the bad choice of words that Josh had chosen to express his thoughts. I completely knew the point he was trying to get across, but it just came out, well...mean. Lance stood there speechless for a few seconds, his mouth agape, before he walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him. Josh and I both cringed at the noise, and then looked at each other.
"Whoops," he said, shaking his head. "Not very tactful, am I?"
"Nah, I understood what you meant. Lance has been spending too much time with me," I said, hating to acknowledge the truth. "I'm starting to think that it was a mistake for me and Cynthia to come along with you guys. We've hindered more than helped."
"No!" Josh suddenly exclaimed. "No, um..." he managed to spit out awkwardly. "You two aren't hindering us at all," he said, desperately trying to come up with an answer. I tried to hide a smile, as he tried to cover up his outburst. "I love having you two along."
"Especially one of us, and I know it's not me," I said gently, not trying to pry. Josh's face turned redder than before.
"Well, yeah...but that's not important. It's just that Lance...in these last few weeks, he's done a complete turn around of character. He's never been this way before. He's always stayed on top of things, gone over our business deals...stuff like that. Now I'm afraid that he can't even add two and two together."
I sighed. Why was it that everything was centering around me lately? And why, after Lance and I had cleared up things, did some other problem have to come along? It was almost like someone was specifically putting these road blocks in our relationship to challenge us.
"Look, Josh--I'll go talk to Lance. He'll listen to me. I'll just have to tell him that we can't spend so much time together away from the group, okay? I think I might know where he went to."
Josh nodded and began to turn towards the door, when something popped into my mind. "Hey, Josh," I called out. He turned back towards me.
"Yeah, Stephen?"
"How's Cynthia doing?" I asked him, trying to hide the knowing smile from my face.
It took all of his composure from breaking out into a huge grin. "She's...uh, fine," he managed to say. "She's great actually." He looked down at his sneakers for a second and then looked back up at me, the grin finally breaking through. "Thanks for talking to her, Stephen," he said.
"No problem," I said casually. "Glad I could help you two kids out. Now if you excuse me," I said, joining him at the door. "There's a certain member of `N Sync I have to go talk to..."
My first instinct was to go to the balcony at the end of the hallway. It wasn't like there were hundreds of places to go to in the building but I had a strong suspicion that I would find Lance there, and I was right. My boyfriend was standing there, leaning on the rail of the balcony, looking out over the city. I noticed there was a gentle breeze blowing around us, as I joined him at the railing.
"Nice view, huh?" I asked quietly, not wanting him to surprise him at the sound of my voice.
"Yeah," he said glumly. "Nice." He refused to say anymore, opting to keep his eyes focused on the view in front of him.
"Lance, come on," I finally spoke. "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" he asked, turning towards me. "What's wrong?! I'll tell you what's wrong, I don't know what I'm doing anymore, that's what!" He took a deep breath. "Look, Stephen--if I hang around with you, I'm ignoring the group. If I'm hanging around with the group, I'm ignoring you. I'm damned if I move one way, and damned if I don't."
"You know, sometimes I wish I wasn't even in this group. I mean, I love it--I love getting up on stage and singing and meeting people and traveling. It beats working a minimum wage job, you know?" Lance asked me, searching my face for understanding. When I finally nodded, he continued.
"And then I meet you," he said, a smile on his face. "And I want to spend time with you, but then I ignore something else--the thing that let me meet you," he said, as he grabbed my hands briefly and then let them go. "And then I ignore the rest of the guys and they get frustrated at me for ignoring my duties to the group. Somehow, it's always my happiness..." He looked back out at the city and then turned back to me, sadness in his eyes. "I just want to be happy, Stephen. I feel really rotten that I've been ignoring the guys, but I don't want to ignore you either. "
"I won't be mad," I said honestly. "I know you big pop stars have responsibilities,' I said, grinning. "As long as you don't forget my name and we get to spend a little quality time together, I'll be happy," I said, raising my eyebrows suggestively.
Lance smiled at my expression. "You're so sensible," he sighed. "I think that's another reason I like you so much."
I laughed at his remark. "Yeah, sensible--that's why I quit my job and left my sister and now my mother disowns me," I thought, my face growing dark with the past memories. Lance noticed this and gently touched my cheek.
"Come on, don't think about her," he said, stroking my skin. "We had a pretty good day, didn't we?" He smiled, thinking about our previous rendevouz in the bathroom. His touches grew a bit heavier. And then I realized something.
"Lance--we're in public," I reminded him, with a weak smile. Despite that, he ignored my warning and kept his fingers firmly in place. My eyes locked with his, and I felt myself falling into the recesses of withdrawal from the real world, and into another where only Lance and I existed. Suddenly, the shriek of a young female girl from below whipped us back into the present.
"LANCE!" the voice shrieked from down below, causing him to yank his hand from my face as though I was on fire. His face turned crimson, as he leaned back over the balcony just in time to see a throng of young, female girls running towards us, although we were about twenty stories off the ground.
"How can they tell that it's you?" I asked him, as he began to wave to the girls.
He looked at me and shrugged. "The hair I guess. And my stunning good looks," he added oh-so-modestly, giving me a wink. "Hi girls!" he boomed in his deep voice and the screams were so overwhelming, I'm surprised that all of the windows in the buildings didn't shatter.
"Ugh," I said. "Trust me to get the arrogant `N Sync member," I teased, turning away from the crowd, so that I wouldn't be noticed by the adoring mob. Following my lead, Lance turned away from the crowd, and grabbed my hand, laughing.
"What if I kissed you here?" Lance asked, a devilish look lurking in his eyes. "I could say you're my really, manly girlfriend," he added once he saw the horrified look on my face.
"Hey, it's your reputation if you're seen with a really ugly girl," I said chuckling at his remark and walked inside of the building. Lance gave the girls one more wave and screamed, "Bye--see you at the concert" and then followed me back into the building.
"Whew, it's tough being a star," Lance said jokingly, as we headed back to our room. Once we were inside it, I took him by surprise and pulled him into my arms. I looked into his eyes and attempted to recapture the moment that we had lost outside.
"It's not the balcony, but at least we're not surrounded by hundred of prying eyes..." I trailed off, before letting my lips meet his in a soft kiss.
"Stop it," Lance said, giggling after we parted. "You're distracting me from my job,"
"What job?" I teased him. "Just shut up and kiss me, Mr. Pop Star," I shot back, trying to hide my grin.
"Now, I like that order," Lance commented, his expression turning serious as he ran his fingers through my hair. Then, like we had done so many times before, Lance pressed his soft lips against mine, and I felt myself falling once again...
Chapter 16
It was my cousin's first `N Sync concert and the expression on Cynthia's face rivaled the one on a prisoners face. She looked as though she was about to be dragged off to her last supper, or something along those lines.
"Just because I'm starting to see one of them, doesn't mean that I like their music or will ever like their music," she grumbled as we sat backstage on cheap foldout chairs, eating cold pizza that was leftover from the crew member's dinner. The rest of the guys were in a back room, meeting the local contest winners. I smiled at the thought--I had been one of those people only a few weeks ago and look what had happened to me. My thoughts wandered to Lance, and I felt my face grow warm, as my mind flipped over all of the moments that we had shared together. The sound of falling equipment backstage brought me back to reality.
I looked at Cynthia. Despite her complaints, she had never looked more beautiful in her life. At it wasn't just her clothes or perfectly styled hair--it was her. Her ivory skin was glowing and her violet eyes were sparkling. I could tell that she was in love--at least the first stages of it. That funny roller-coaster-for-a-stomach feeling, wondering if the other person felt the same way about you--I could tell because only a few weeks ago I was in that stage myself. And even though she was crabbing, I could tell that despite herself, she wanted to smile.
"So, if I'm not being too nosy...what happened with you and Josh during lunch? He seemed pretty happy when I talked to him this afternoon." I said, chewing on a stale pizza crust. Cynthia avoided my gaze for a few moments, choosing to stare at the overweight roadies scuffling back and forth with equipment instead.
"Um...some stuff," she said vaguely. "You know, the usual..."
"And what, may I ask, is the usual?"
"Oh for God's sake's Stevie," Cynthia huffed, flipping her strawberry-blonde hair over her shoulders. "I told Josh how much I liked him. Is that what you wanted out of me?"
I nodded. "Yup. Thanks," I said, leaning over and pinching her cheek. She swatted me away with her hand, but gave me an elated smile anyways.
"Bastard," she shot back. "You always were." Just then we heard a commotion, and saw all five of the guys, plus the contest winners emerging from the back room. I looked over and watched Cynthia's face break out into a grin as her eyes zeroed in on Josh's tall frame. He was holding onto a little girl's hand and the girl, who was blonde, automatically reminded me of Natalie. For a moment, I remembered how happy she had been that night. A deep feeling sunk in my stomach, as I realized how much I missed my sister who was back home with my mother. Poor Natalie. She was stuck in that house with that witch, who was probably deprogramming her from her thoughts of me as well as `N Sync.
Just then, Lance caught my eye and tried to nonchalantly call me over by jerking his head to the right a few times. Cynthia and I looked at each other curiously and walked over to the guys, who were now saying their good-byes to the contest winners. They consisted of a guy who was with two little girls. He was fairly good looking, with windblown sandy hair and casual, yet dressy clothes. There was something about him though, that made me a bit suspicious. And as I watched him leave, my suspicious were confirmed as I noticed that he blatantly winked at Lance--my Lance.
`What the hell...' I thought, my strides increasing in pace as I reached my boyfriend, who was staring at me with a distracted expression on his face.
"Hi, Lance," I said, taking a place next to him. "What's wrong?" I asked in a quieter voice.
"You see that guy over there?" he asked, trying to point the guy out without him noticing. "He was hitting on me. Or at least I think he was hitting on me." Lance scratched his head in confusion. "What did he mean when he said, `nice eyes'?"
I laughed at his remark and he shot me a dirty look. "I don't think this is that funny, Stephen," Lance muttered, desperately averting his eyes to avoid the guy's longing gaze.
"I'm sorry sweetie," I whispered. "But if you couldn't tell that he was hitting on you, then you're more naive than I think. I'll take care of this," I said confidently. I walked over to my cousin, who was standing next to Josh and talking his ear off.
"Hey, Cynth--" I said. She turned to me with a clearly aggravated look on her face. "Can I speak with you for a moment? If you're not too busy, that is," I said, smiling at Josh. She gave him an apologetic look as we walked away from the guys, her silver platform heels clomping noisily on the floor with every step she took.
"What do you want, Stevie? This better be good," Cynthia said once we were out of earshot from the guys. She crossed her arms over her chest, and gave Josh a backwards glance, only to find that Josh was staring at her. Her cross look was replaced with a sweet smile as she gave him a little wave. Once she turned back to me, the angry look returned. She was such a quick change artist.
"It is..." I said, looking at Lance, who had taken to staring at his sneakers. "There's a guy hitting on Lance, Cynthia." I pointed him out to my cousin and continued. "Do you think that Josh would mind if you went over and, um, became a bit, um, affectionate towards Lance? Just so the guy gets the idea that Lance isn't interested?" I explained, choosing my words carefully.
Cynthia's scowl changed once again. In a matter of seconds she went from offended to excited. "Sure! I love role-acting!" she said enthusiastically. "Did you know that in high school--"
"You were the lead in Grease for two years straight, yeah, yeah. You're a wonderful actress. Now work your magic." I brushed her off, starting to laugh. "Just get your butt over there and pretend that you and Lance are boyfriend and girlfriend, or have a thing for each other--whatever--just get over there," I said, pushing her off towards Lance.
Almost immediately, I could tell that Cynthia was going to relish every second of her new role as `Lance Bass's girlfriend'. Her eyes lit up as she walked over to Lance, and threw her arms around him, which not only took my boyfriend by surprise, but the rest of the guys as well.
"Hi, Lance, sweetie," she cooed, giving him a big kiss on the lips. I tried to stifle my laughter, as she began to lay her act on even thicker and heavier. I let my eyes wander over briefly to the guy who had been hitting on Lance. His shocked expression was as clear as day, as he realized that the guy he had made a move on was `straight'--or so he thought, as he watched my cousin begin to molest my boyfriend.
"Cynthia, what are you--" Lance managed to sputter as my cousin kept kissing his face over and over. He looked over at me, only to find me doubled over, laughing. Lance then looked back at her, his pale skin turning tomato red in embarrassment. Cynthia noticed his mortified state and just laughed girlishly as she pressed her body against his.
"Oh, Lance, I missed you so much," Cynthia said in a very faux seductive way, blinking her eyes at him and then, to everyone's surprise, she suddenly did her trademark move and jumped on him. He managed to catch her, as he gave me a look that clearly said, `What is going on here?' And then the lightbulb suddenly clicked on over his head and he knew what Cynthia was doing. A smile lit up his face, as he began to twirl her around in his arms.
"Oh Cynth--I'm so glad to see you," he bellowed, finally returning her sloppy kisses. "I thought I'd never get to see you again!" By this time, everyone--and I mean, everyone--the roadies, the backstage crew, the public relations people--were staring at the two of them, who were hamming it up so realistically, they deserved some sort of award for their performance. They actually looked as though they were madly in love. The rest of the guys were staring at Lance, open mouthed in shock, and then looked at me, where I was laughing my ass off. Josh, however, was a completely different story--his face had twisted into a mask of pure confusion and hurt as he watched the girl he had fallen for, slobbering all over the guy who was supposed to be my boyfriend. But, the best part of their act by far, was the effect it had on the guy who had been hitting on Lance. He had obviously had enough, as he gave Cynthia and Lance a look of pure evil. He then spun around on his heel furiously, yanking the two little girls that were with him.
Cynthia looked at me as Lance's face was buried in her cleavage. "Okay, is that enough?" she called out to me, looking somewhat disgusted. I managed to nod through my laughter and watched as she jumped off of Lance.
"Hey," he said in mock protest. "I was just getting started."
"Oh, you should know I'm a tease by now, Lance," she said flippantly, and walked back over to where I and the rest of the guys were standing.
Josh looked at her, perplexed. "What the hell was that all about?" he asked her, as she gave us all a cat-who-ate-the-canary grin.
"There was a guy who was hitting on Lance," I explained quietly as the other guys walked over to us, curious to know what was going on. "And I thought the best way to get rid of him was for Cynthia to work her magic charms." I said, trying to recover from my laughter. I wiped tears away from my eyes and looked at my cousin proudly. "She's quite the actress."
"I thought maybe Scoop had changed his mind," Joey said, laughing as he finally got the joke, "Or that he was using you to get to Cynthia."
"Oh, everybody wants me," my cousin giggled, as she slyly looked at Josh. Just then Marshall walked over to us, with a disapproving look on his face.
"Congratulations, guys--about a thousand press photos were taken of you and you," he said sarcastically, pointing at Lance and Cynthia. "Good job."
"Aww, Marsh, they were just shitting around," Chris spoke up, looking disgusted with his road manager. "No big deal."
"No big deal? We want to have single guys in this group, okay? Let's play out the fantasies for the kids..." Marsh said quietly but was still obviously agitated.. "Now get into wardrobe and get ready for the show!" he ordered them and stomped away, gluing his ear to a cell phone. Cynthia looked at the guys, with a worried look on her face.
"Am I in trouble?" she asked in a quiet voice. She looked as though she had been reprimanded by a teacher. Josh grabbed her shoulder, and gently rubbed it.
"Eh, don't worry about him--he's so uptight sometimes, I'm surprised his head doesn't explode," Josh said casually, shrugging him off. "We gotta get moving, guys," he announced, walking back towards the dressing rooms. Then he stopped, glanced back at Cynthia and grinned.
"I'll see you later--you're gonna go out with us tonight, right?" he called out to her, his blue eyes looking her up and down in approval. She nodded happily, her violet eyes watching as he disappeared into a room with a curtain over it. The rest of the guys followed, except for Lance, who stopped to talk to me.
"Thanks," he said, shyly. "For what you did. Even though we did make jack asses out of ourselves," he added with a grin.
"Oh, it was nothin'. Cynthia'll jump at any opportunity to act like a maniac in public," I said. He shook his head, looked around to make sure no one was watching us (except for Cynthia, of course) and pulled me back into an off limits area of secluded darkness.
"No, for making sure that guy knew I wasn't interested in him," Lance said. "You could've shrugged it off and told me not to worry, but you made sure he knew that I wasn't interested." He let out a deep laugh. "A little extreme, but it worked." He gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Stephen."
"I guess I'm just the jealous type," I joked. I noticed the serious, yet sweet look that remained on Lance's face as he continued to gaze at me. "Hey, you're welcome." I said, touched by how much he obviously appreciated it. "It's nothing that you wouldn't do for me, right?"
"You know that, Stephen." He let out a sigh and then grinned mischievously. "But you know what? Cynthia did not do a thing for me." We laughed at his comment and stared at each other for a few more seconds, loving the little moments that we were able to spend together, before we both heard Justin call out, "Lance! Now!"
Lance rolled his eyes in frustration. "Gotta go, Stephen," he sighed, giving me another kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you after the concert."
"Make me proud," I called out to him, with a grin on my face. He gave me the thumbs up sign before disappearing into the dressing room and as I watched him I let out a happy, content sigh, once that I didn't even know that I had been holding.
That's it for Chapter 15 and 16. I'm not sure when the next installment will be coming out, but I will try to get it out as soon as possible. Thanks for reading. Remember, comments, questions and concerns (i feel like I'm writing a survey or something) are welcome at sweetheart_stories@hotmail.com. Thanks--Gabriella.