'A Second Chance' Chapter 12
Disclaimer: blah blah blah. All the usual stuff about this being nothing but fiction and that the members of the Backstreet Boys and N*SYNC aren't actually gay -- you know what I mean, right? Let's just pretend I said that. And if you are underage or homophobic, please do us all a favor and leave.
I'm so sorry about the lateness of this chapter. But yes, I have an excuse. I had the worst case of writer's block and I did the one thing that makes it even worse: I put off writing. So again, I apologize and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me ::grin:: Anyway, enjoy! J
Justin tiptoed down the hallway, made a few turns, and stopped in front of the service elevator. With a quick look around, he pressed the button next to the arrow that pointed down and impatiently waited for the elevator. He had only slipped away like this once before, and he was considerably nervous. A smile spread over his face as he remembered that little episode. It was shortly after his sixteenth birthday, that Joey decided it was time for Justin to have some fun. So Joey had dragged him off to a club one night. That was the first and last time Justin had gotten drunk. It was also the first time he had seen a naked women. Even though he hadn't enjoyed that too much, and he could've done without the hangover the next morning, it had still been fun. A loud ring that signaled the elevator's arrival brought him back into reality and he quickly entered before one of his bandmates found him standing in the hallway.
Sitting in the taxi, he congratulated himself for making it out of the hotel without getting noticed. And he had to smile yet again when he realized that most people didn't have to worry about not getting noticed when leaving a hotel. He on the other hand was happy when the police didn't get involved. He looked out the window and brought his mind to the original reason for running away like this. With Britney's help, he had come up with an ingenious plan, and he couldn't wait to so Nick's face when he found out about this little trip. Justin still couldn't believe that he was going to do this.
AJ was standing in the bathroom, drying his hair off with a towel. It was blonde now. After all that had been happening he just felt like a change. He reached for a comb and worked through the knots that had formed throughout the dyeing process. He was so lost in this thoughts that he didn't notice when JC entered the bathroom until the other man's face appeared next to AJ's on the mirror. Surprised, AJ turned around and looked at JC.
"Nice hair." JC complimented. AJ nodded.
"Thanx." They hadn't talked much since the incident the other day. In fact, they had pretty much ignored each other. Neither of them quite knew what to make of that kiss and what it meant for them. JC needed to come to terms with his sexuality before he could even sort out his feelings for AJ, and AJ had to figure out what he still felt for Nick before he could admit to himself that he was attracted to JC. This situation was more than a little complicated and neither of them knew how to handle it. It was JC who finally broke the silence.
"I don't know what's going on, but I think we need to talk about it." He offered. AJ returned his attention to his hair, occasionally glancing at JC's reflection in the mirror. He took a deep breath.
"Listen, there's not much I can say. But I can tell you the two things I am sure about. One, yes I'm gay. Two, yes I'm attracted to you. But there's more to it and I can't talk about that." JC looked slightly disappointed.
"Does the rest have something to do with, well, you know what I mean." JC asked.
"Yes. And I'll tell as soon as I am ready to talk about it. Now to you. What do you have to say?" AJ asked, shifting the conversation away from him.
"Well, I don't know if Justin told you, but when he first came out to us I was pretty repulsed by it. But I didn't wanna lose him so I learned to deal with it. Now I'm ok with the thought of him being gay, but I don't know how I feel about the thought that I might be." JC explained.
"Just being attracted to one guy doesn't make you gay. You could be bi. Or maybe it's just a one-time thing. I've heard those exist." AJ suggested.
"Yes, I know. But I think these feelings run deeper than just a simple crush." JC sighed.
"So where do we go from here? Do we just go with the feeling no matter where it leads us, or do we stop it before it starts?" AJ asked. JC shrugged his shoulders.
"I never thought I'd say this, but I'd rather go with it than ignore it and always wonder what might have been." JC seemed to be surprised by his own words.
"I've always been one to take a chance." AJ said. And that was it. Both knew that this could lead to a lot of problems, but their feelings were too strong to ignore. JC got up slowly and walked over to join AJ in front of the mirror. His hands roamed over AJ's naked, smooth back. He didn't know what he was doing, he just knew that there was this voice in the back of his head telling him what to do and he couldn't help but obey. So he let those voices guide his hands and ignored that other part of his head that was screaming at him to stop touching another guy.
The taxi stopped in front of a mall and Justin put on his sunglasses and hat, then paid the driver and left. He vanished into the mall and walked around aimlessly for a while until he found what he'd been looking for. He entered the store and looked around. It certainly felt strange to be in here, but he knew that it was the right thing. He wanted this more than anything, and he was sure Nick felt the same. Feeling a bit better, he approached one of the sales people.
"Excuse me, do you have engagement rings for men?" He asked, a grin on his face. The lady looked shocked, but composed herself enough to answer.
"We sure do. Please follow me, sir." She said.
"Of course it's not for me. A friend of mine is getting married and she wants to surprise her boyfriend but she's not sure what kind of ring he'd like. So she sent me to pick out a few and she'll come later to buy one. It will be alright to put a few rings aside for her, right?" Justin asked innocently. Relieved, the lady nodded and led him to a counter where she displayed several rings. Justin looked at each of them carefully. He wanted to find the perfect ring for Nick. Britney would come and pick it up later. At first they had thought of just going together to buy the ring, but that would most likely have caused even more suspicion. Sometimes, living in the public eye could be quite a pain.
Justin had just narrowed his choices to three rings, when his cell phone went off. Nervously he checked the display, but it wasn't any of the guys. It was Britney.
"J, we have a problem." She greeted him.
"Why? Did they find out I left?" Justin asked. He wouldn't be surprised if they had.
"Yes. Nick called me five minutes ago. Lance apparently found out that you are missing and called Nick. Of course, Nick got worried and called me. I told him that you are out shopping and he found that rather odd. You might have to come up with a better excuse. I just thought I'd warn you." Justin cursed under his breath. He should've known that Lance would call Nick first. Nick was out with Brian, and Justin had taken that opportunity to buy the ring. He had been planning to do this for a while, but had been trying to find a way to leave secretly without Nick noticing. And now it looked like he was going to have to lie.
"Listen, J, I have to hang up. My manager is calling on the other line. I wonder what he wants. Talk to you later." Britney said hastily and hung up. Justin turned off his phone and instructed the salesperson to keep the rings in his name till his friend picked them up. He took one last look at the ring he had selected and smiled. Yes, Nick was going to be mighty surprised.
There we go. Chapter 12. I apologize if it's not that good...I promise I'll make the next one better. Take care j