Twist of Fate

*Well well well... I'm ALIVE! I do apologize to everyone for such a delay, but we all must have priorities, and mine have, unfortunately, focused on school. My junior year was quite the beast, followed by a summer preparing for the MCAT. If you don't know what that is, email me and I'll tell you. If you DO know, email me your condolences. :) But I AM back in business, and back with yet another chapter.

*I highly recommend you go back and check out chapter 15, seeing as it's been 4 months or so since I've submitted anything. (I had to go back and re-read the past few chapters myself!) I'm including a chunk from the ending of chapter 15 to help get you back into the groove of things.

*Thanks to all the friends with whom I've been able to keep in touch during my hiatus: Seth (JLS), RCJ, Adam, Ryan, Matt, Andrew, etc. I'd love to chat with all my other friends, too! Email me!

*Okay... don't even THINK that I'm trying to indicate that any member of *NSync is gay, or even a teenie-weenie bit bisexual. Nope, they're 100% bonafide straight boys. Every last one of 'em!! ::coughNOTcough:: Anyway, the story is FICTION! This story, while not dealing with anyone gettin' any po-nanny, is meant for adult readers; so if you're not old enough, go check out disney.com or something.

*Well, enough BLAH BLAH for me. Enjoy the chapter, and I'll do my best to be timely in the future. Thanks for your patience! Comments are always accepted at: kaiser_goof@hotmail.com.

~Jeff

************************* Previously on Twist of Fate (holy crap, it's been a long time since I've typed that!)...

• • • • • "I love you, Goof," I said as I pulled him close.

"I love you, Billy," Lance responded.

FLUSH. I was shaken by the unexpected sound of a toilet flushing, and Lance and I were instantly apart. The look of love in both our eyes quickly turned to one of horror as we both realized that we weren't alone in the bathroom. A million thoughts went through my mind, and probably Lance's as well. I pulled my stare away from a frightened Lance and began cautiously walking along the rows of sinks towards the source of the sound. My head was spinning, my heart was beating, and I was scared of who I might find. My fearful curiosity was satiated, however, when someone walked around the corner.

"Oh, hey Billy," Victor said as he turned on the sink and proceeded to wash his hands. My heart stopped and I froze cold. I couldn't speak, I didn't know what to say. What had he heard? How long had he been in the bathroom?

Would he tell anyone? Does he...... know?? Victor glanced over my shoulder towards the third person in the room. "Oh, hey Lance."

"Hey Victor," Lance managed to crackle out. Victor turned back to me and said,

"You almost done packing up? I noticed the backboard outside. The van's about to leave." Victor seemed totally oblivious to the events in the bathroom leading up to our conversation, and I had no choice to play along with him.

"Hum, uh, yeah. I'm almost done, yeah. I was just... helping Lance, he wasn't.. i mean, isn't feeling well. But.. .he's better now." UGH.

"Really? I'm sorry to hear that, Lance! You should get some sleep!" Victor seemed so sincere, and Lance could only acknowledge it with a muted thank you. Victor had finished drying his hands, and began his exit.

"Well, I'll see you all when I see you," Victor said as he started walking away. However, he turned back to say, "Hey Lance, if you're still feeling badly tomorrow, we'll get you to see a doctor. Actually, just talk to Billy. He'll be able to take good care of you." And with a nod, he was gone.

• • • • • Chapter 16

When I was eight, I ran one of my play carts into the side of the garage. It made a HUGE hole in the stucco, but my dad never found out. When I was eleven, I forged my mom's signature on a report card because my grade wasn't very good. When I was fifteen, I snuck out of my house and went to one of those 'cool' parties that had alcohol. I never had any-can't STAND the taste of beer-but I still snuck out. In all those things, I never got caught, I never got in trouble... but BOY was I scared! However, none of that fear about my little hidden secrets could have prepared me for the fear that consumed me about the chance that someone on the tour knew about me and Lance.

After our little mishap with Victor in the bathroom, Lance and I were VERY careful around each other, especially when Victor was around. The event actually drove us apart... not because we didn't like each other, but we were petrified about anyone finding out and risking Lance's reputation. I can't even describe how frustrating it was to go hour by hour, day by day, and simply consider Lance to be 'one of the guys', and treat him as such. We weren't rooming together, we were spending very little quiet time together, and I was trying to get Lance to sleep when he had free time in an effort to help him recover from his exhaustion.

My relationship with Victor had also taken on a bit of a change. Since the meeting in the bathroom, I had walked on eggshells around him in order to keep him appeased and happy... just IN CASE he knew. Victor's response and attitude to me? VERY NICE... and it freaked me out. Victor had become sickeningly sweet with the slightest touch of mockery, and it scared me to know end. Me? I just tried to push it to the back of my mind and get my work done. I didn't even know what Victor knew, or what he heard, or what he assumed. He might have been totally oblivious. He sure acted like it! No, I wasn't going to worry about it. Or at least, I was going to TRY not to.

A good week had passed since Victor walked in on us in the bathroom, and it had been pretty uneventful. The tour was progressing as usual, heading south through the United States like a steam engine---NEVER letting up. I finished packing up the medical supplies after a show in Atlanta, completing a trip around the decomposing stage area to be sure nothing had been left behind. It had been a long day: I had only gotten about 5 hours of sleep, dealt with a few minor injuries from crew members, a seemingly impossible arena to air condition (it was VERY hot), still dealing with Lance being ill, AND this whole thing with Victor. My head was starting to hurt, and I just wanted to end the day and start fresh. 'Carpe Diem', they say... Seize the day. Well, this day was shot. I just wanted to get my head to a pillow so I could start again.

"Hey Billy," Pete said as I climbed onto the band's bus. He was talking pretty intently with the sound man on the radio, and I'm lucky he even noticed me stepping on the bus. "10-4, Ruben. That's ready to roll on the truck. Call me if you need anything else. 103 clear."

I walked in to the bus, and crashed beside Joey, Chris and JC in the seating area. They looked even more beat than they had when they walked off stage tonight. I dull round of 'heys' were exchanged. Woo hoo. When Pete finally ended his radio chat, I spoke up. "Hey Pete, did Lance head to bed?

He wasn't feeling well, so I suggested that." Pete nodded and chuckled a little.

"On the job for a week and already assigning bed rest? Yes doc. Yeah, he's back in the back. He came in really beat and rolled right into his bunk." I nodded a thank you, but sat stationary for a few minutes. Far be it for me to stir up any suspicions about my motives to visit the back of the bus! We all chatted for a bit, then I claimed that I needed to use the restroom. Excusing myself from the group, I slid into the bathroom and sat on the closed toilet staring at the wallpaper for thirty seconds before flushing the clean water and exiting. Instead of returning to the group, however, I turned left and headed back to the bunks. I reached cautiously for the curtain on Lance's bunk, but it moved before I could touch it.

"Hey you," Lance said quietly as he pulled the curtain out of the way and leaned up, a groggy look on his face.

"Whoa, how'd you..."

"Hehehe... you think I'd just be snoozing the night away, not keeping tabs on my boyfriend? I've been sorta overhearing you guys talking, and I had a pretty good guess that it was you in the bathroom. I'm the jealous type, you know." I shook my head and said,

"You goof! Anyway, how are you feeling? You looked sorta tired on stage, but we haven't gotten a chance to talk since then because of... well, you know." A frustrated look popped on Lance's face, and I'm sure I was mirroring the same.

"Yeah, I know," Lance said as he shook his head. "It'll be over soon. Victor's gone in a few days, and we'll be fine. To answer your question, I'm doing okay, I guess. I mean, it's like I'm still not getting that little extra oomph that I need... that extra day to sleep in, or that extra evening off." I was starting to understand what Lance was talking about, seeing as I was now experiencing the same schedule.

"Well, look at the bright side. We've got a show tomorrow in South Carolina, then we'll have two days off! You'll be able to sleep in, we'll be able to hang out, and you'll get that rest that you need!" Lance rolled his eyes and responded,

"Oh yeah, two days off. That's not counting the radio interview we've got, and the CD-signing the following day." I know Lance was tired from the day, but I wanted to make him see that the next few days were going to be GOOD.

"Listen, would you rather spend the three days having three concerts, or one? There's a big difference in time commitments between a 20-minute radio spot and a four hour concert, ya know? Now quit your bitchin' and realize I'm right." The last line was spoken while I grabbed his shoulders and shook them slightly, for effect. A smile finally broke out on his face-oh, that beautiful smile that I had missed-and I knew that Lance would be better after the rest. We sat for a moment laughing quietly and pushing each other around, when Lance grabbed my hand and got a serious look on his face.

"I've missed you, Billy." My head cocked to the side, and I decided to play dumb.

"Uhm, I'm right here, Lance! I've been here all week!" Rolling his eyes again, Lance responded,

"That's not what I mean. I guess," Lance sighed, "I guess I miss the times you happened to crash in my hotel room and we were able to just lie together... or when I was in San Diego with you, and we went out to watch the sunset together, or when I crawled into your bunk last week when you got here. It seems like even though we're closer than ever, we're the farthest apart that we've ever been." As I sat on the end of his bunk, I reached with my other hand until they were both holding Lance's hand. I leaned down closer to his face and whispered,

"Always know I love you, and that I'll always be close." Lance closed his eyes for a moment, then reopened them. It was then that he gave me 'the look'. Now, there have been many 'looks' that Lance and I have shared, but there's that ONE look that I've been able to discern over every other... that's the look that he gets on his face when he wants to kiss me. I smiled, and slowly leaned down to him. Our lips were on a collision course, and I wasn't going to stop them for anything!

"...just need to get some cards out of my bag..." I jolted right back up as I heard the voice of someone rapidly approaching. I ripped my hands away from Lance's, and he quickly assumed a more sickly pose. Scared of who I might find, I unwillingly turned my eyes down the hallway of the bunks to see who our visitor was.

"Here it is, I found 'em," Justin directed behind him as we made eye contact. I breathed a sigh of relief when I knew it was someone harmless, and actually got a little ticked that he had interrupted our little 'moment'. Justin turned to us and whispered, "Hey, JC was talking about coming back to bed, so I decided to warn ya in case you two were doing...," Justin glanced at our positioning and made his own conclusions... "...exactly what I thought you might be doing." I nodded, but didn't get a chance to share my appreciation, since JC was nearly on his tail as he walked into the bunk area.

"Ya know what, Justin? I think I might just stay up and play some cards. Maybe I'm not that tired," JC said as he walked in and started searching through his stuff for a fresh T-shirt and sweats. I was on my feet by this time, and JC was none the wiser. We all chatted for a moment about nothing, and Justin started to head back out... but not before I nodded and smiled at him. He winked back, and I knew he had gotten my message of appreciation. JC followed not long after, leaving Lance and I, once again, alone.

"Now where were we?" Lance said with a frisky smile as he reached up for my hand and yanked me back down onto the bunk.

"Uhm, don't you think we should be careful?"

Lance looked thoughtfully for a moment, then answered. "Nope!" He reached up and pulled on my arms, closing in on me. But being the level-headed one, I resisted.

"Now hold on... We have to be careful! The rest of the band is right in THERE, and we're not in the greatest situation right now! We can't be like two little bunnies in the countryside, ya know?" Lance sighed the cutest sigh and said,

"Yeah, I KNOW... I just miss hugging you, and I miss your kisses." Lance brought up a good point... it had been a long time since we'd been intimate.

Now, I knew that we couldn't sit there and suck face for an hour, but I really saw no harm in a quick 'hey, how's your tonsils?', so I decided to give in. Glancing down the hallway towards the front of the bus and not seeing anyone, I decided to satiate Lance's (and MY) desires, at least in part. I gave him my 'I'm defeated, but I'm still the boss' look and said,

"OKAY, fine. Here's a little something to tide you over until you can REALLY get your claws into me." Lance was slightly taken aback at my comment, as was I... but he didn't seem to complain.

"Hey, no problem here!" I slowly leaned down AGAIN, but this time no voices interrupted us and no visitors kept our lips from meeting. We sat together for a couple of minutes, just enjoying the intimate contact that we both yearned for. Unwillingly, I broke the kiss and quickly tucked Lance back into bed. We exchanged a short 'goodnite', and I returned back to the guys who were, not surprisingly, playing cards. I sighed, trying to figure out WHY I had to be the level-headed one tonight. As I walked towards the front of the bus, I lightly licked my lips, and could still taste Lance there. I had just seen my boyfriend 20 seconds ago, he was all of 15 feet away, and I was already missing him.

'Heigh ho, heigh ho, it's off to work we go...' If you were to classify me as one of the seven dwarfs from Snow White that next morning, I would have definitely been Sleepy. That next morning was probably the worst out of all the days I had been on tour! The alarm clock in my hotel room went off WAAAY too early (by my standards). I hit the snooze about three times before Victor popped his head from the bathroom and sorta yelled at me for letting that infernal thing keep ringing. I made a little internal "reeeer!" cat fight sound in my head, and decided if Victor were one of the dwarfs, he'd be Grumpy. I turned the alarm off and eventually swung my legs over the edge of the bed. Yes, despite my desires to sleep longer and my mental cursings of the alarm clock and any hour before 11AM, the day was, in fact, going to continue. Why were those darn dwarfs always so chipper to get out of bed and go to work, anyway? Those dwarfs were idiots!

I got to eat brunch with the guys that morning, which was quite the surprise. They usually went their separate ways before the show in order to perform their radio spots with the local station, or run off and do some autograph signings... but not today. Seeing as they had a few days off, Roger decided to get the vacationette off to an early start with a lighter schedule that day. While I appreciated the fact that management saw the need for a little less pressure on the road, I couldn't help but think that it was too little too late.

An entire restaurant had been reserved for the guys and the production staff, so we had the opportunity to actually sit down and have a decent meal and decent conversation. Normally, a meal was defined as grabbing for a bagel in between busses, or getting crammed in some back room at a concert arena with finger sandwiches and cheese squares. It was nice to actually order a set of scrambled eggs and french toast! The guys seemed to be in better spirits, especially Lance. He did look better, although I knew he wasn't at 100%. I guess to keep with this tradition I've started, I should assign the sick one, Lance, with the title of Sneezy (Well, that's close enough. I don't think there was a dwarf named Pukey!). Anyway, I was glad that he didn't have to shuffle off to an interview, and that we could actually enjoy some down time together, inconspicuous though it was. We all chatted about what we were all going to do over the days off we had coming, and we decided to catch some recent movies that hadn't been seen yet due to the tour schedule. Around eleven, Peter deemed that it was time to end the meal, and we all headed off to the arena to begin yet another long and tedious day of work.

I was never much of a whistler, but I always tried my best... ESPECIALLY when I had a song stuck in my head. I was scurrying around the backstage area whistling "Heigh ho, heigh ho...", probably annoying the crap out of everyone I walked by. I wasn't paying much attention to anything except getting my work done, so I didn't really notice my coworkers or anyone else hanging around me.

"So, Lance is your friend?" I was startled as Victor came up and began speaking to me as I whistled while I worked.

"Hum... wha huh? I'm sorry?" I sputtered out, still caught off-guard, trying to figure out what he was trying to say.

"You know, Lance. You guys are friends?" Okay, that's what I thought he said. There was a genuine look of interest in his eyes, yet a hint of the unknown also lingered on his face. What could have brought this question on?

"Well, yeah, I guess. I mean, I've become friends with a lot of guys on the tour..."

"Oh, that's good. It's always good to have friends on tour. And I'll bet you're glad you're buddies with *NSync! I mean, talk about the women you can get just by knowing them!" Talk like that always got me a little uncomfortable, but the angle Victor was taking was even more unsettling. "Do you have a girlfriend back at home?" At this point, I was really getting uncomfortable, but it was this time more than ever that I needed to be strong and get Victor off my back.

"Me? Nah, I don't have a girlfriend right now. I mean, how could I have a girlfriend if I were on tour? Do you know how hard it must be to have a long distance relationship?"

"Well, what about me? I mean, I'm gone from my wife for a few months, but it's for a good reason... money. Who could give up a good money maker like this?" I tweaked an eyebrow at his priorities, but decided not to debate it... I mean, I just wanted to get OUT of this conversation!

"Well, I guess it could work... but anyway, no, I'm single." It jabbed at me as I said that, because although I was 'single' for Victor's purposes, I had still just lied to him about my relationship with Lance. It made me feel like I was ashamed of Lance, or I was ashamed of liking guys or something, when that wasn't true! However, I stuck by my position because it's what I needed to do to protect myself and Lance.

"Oh, well then you'll have no problem pickin' up a little somethin' tomorrow night with the guys. There's nothin' like a drunk teenage band groupie to help cure homesickness, ya know?" Victor grinned and made the pantomime of slapping with his hand and bouncing his pelvis, and I was simply horrified. Any positive opinion I had of Victor at that point completely disintegrated.

"Uhhh... SORRY, not for me," I said as I shook my head and turned around, hoping that Victor would just crawl under the slimy little rock from which he came. But he didn't.

"What? Everyone gets a little piece of the crowd on tour... the stage crew, the managers, the E-M-T's... (he said that with emphasis)...... I mean, the band's bus has been known to run one or two people heavier on occasion when the guys need to get a nice piece of ass." I didn't want to hear any more, partly because I didn't believe him, but mostly because I didn't want to picture the guys like that. I mean, I know Chris and Justin have girlfriends, JC... well, I just didn't want to believe that about JC, and Lance... well, he BETTER not be getting any!!! Victor continued, "So when was your last time?" I was confused.

"Excuse me?"

"You know, your 'last time'... the last time you got laid? Got a nice piece of tail?" That was it. This conversation was now extremely uncomfortable and I was done talking to him.

"You know what, Victor? That's none of your damn business, and I'll ask you to kindly keep your nose out of it. I don't want to talk about this anymore because I think it's disgusting and it's not appropriate to discuss on the job. OKAY?" Victor finally seemed to get the message, although I think that he was more satisfied than anything that he had pushed my buttons successfully.

"Fine... fine... just thought you might want some help getting laid, that's all. Guess if you don't want any of that, you'll have to stick your dick into something here on tour...", and with that, Victor walked away. I was numb. I was shocked. The conversation left my mind reeling. What did he know? What had he figured out? Did he have suspicions? Was he just trying to get a rise out of me? Is he clueless? I felt my heart drop, and a cold sweat broke out over my face. The feeling of being out of control came over me, and that scared me the most. I didn't know what Victor knew, and I could only convince myself that our little conversation was an isolated incident. I tried to convince myself of that fact as I continued working to prepare for that night's concert.

BOOM! The pyrotechnics scared me as the technicians tested the indoor fireworks for the show. It had been a few hours since Victor and I had talked, and I had just calmed down. I'd not seen Lance for the whole time, but expected him soon for the group's sound check. Sure enough, the guys arrived on stage a few minutes later to get fitted for their run through. Lance and I made eye contact, smiled, and the guys moved on stage and took their places. They began a quick run through of their songs, singing 'God Must Have Spent...' as an a capella warm-up. Boy, did they sound great! I was just getting into their music when Victor walked up. My natural reaction? Defense. And that's what I did. I turned around to face him, took a step back, and nodded my acknowledgement of his presence. He nodded back nonchalantly, grabbed his medical pack, and walked away. Terrifically non-eventful, if you ask me. I shook my thoughts back into place and turned back towards the stage where I tried to focus on Lance's bu... I mean, *NSync's music. Hehehe.

I had been thinking about how I should approach... or IF I should approach Lance on this whole Victor thing. I mean, he had a lot to worry about at that point, but he didn't really know about the whole situation, especially the conversation we had that afternoon. I mean, Victor was going to be gone from the tour in just a few more days, and with that, my problem would be gone. However, it WAS a situation that I was dealing with, and Lance might feel as if I couldn't be totally honest with him about stuff. I mean, if there's anyone that I should have felt comfortable going to, it would have been my boyfriend... it would have been Lance. I decided at that point that I'd nail Lance down at the first opportunity and tell him what was going down.

But there wasn't really a chance. It was about 4:30pm when the guys got done with their sound check, and the rest of the time was taken up with informal meetings with Peter and Roger, dinner, and the usual pre-concert 'Meet *NSync Backstage Tour'. I got to spend most of the time with Lance and the guys, but I never got the chance to pull Lance aside and talk one-on-one. The meetings were boring as always, the usual dinner antics ensued, and I was sorta booted out (as always) when the little backstage tour for all the rich teenie boppers whose daddies got them backstage passes came through. I did promise myself, however, that I'd talk to him tonight at the hotel after the concert. Afterall, we WERE going back to our hotel tonight rather than hop on a tour bus, since we didn't have another concert for a few more days! Having made that commitment to myself, I put my mind to rest and decided to look forward to this concert, AND the next few days off!

"Goodnight, Charleston! We love you! Goodnight!" The applause was, as always, deafening. It was good that they guys had those little monitor earpieces in their ears... otherwise, they'd probably have hearing damage! Now, every night after a concert, I have the duty (and privilege, seeing as they're SO cute!) of looking at each of the guys as they exit the stage and assessing how they're doing. Tired? Sick? Looking faint? I saw none of these symptoms tonight. In fact, I saw a group of energized people that looked truly alive for the first time since... since their vacation in San Diego! It didn't take too much thinkin' to figure out why... Just a few words... TWO DAYS OFF! The guys (and the whole crew) were READY to take some time off, and judging by their speed getting off the stage, they weren't wasting any time getting started!

I gave the guys high-fives as they came off stage and, not surprisingly, my 'high-five' with Lance lasted just a little longer than with the others. I was really looking forward to spending some non-work time with the band, but especially with Lance.

"Whazzaaaaap?" I yelled, going totally spaz on the guys. All the guys followed suit.

"Whazaaaaaaaaaaaap?" Justin threw in his own rendition of the beer commercial, complete with his big old tongue sticking out.

"Whazauauauaauuup?" By this time, all the guys were cracking up, slapping each other on the back, and trying their best to remove all the sound electronics that they wear during the show and hand them to the sound crew.

"Dude, I can't WAIT to get out of this crap and get out on the town!" JC said as he toweled off.

"No doubt," Chris agreed. "This time off is going to rock! How are we getting out of here again?" Justin, the guru of all partying knowledge, knew the answer.

"Limo, of course. We gotta hit the town in ssssstyle," Justin said as he took a small step back, bowed lightly, and rubbed his fingers around the brim of his imaginary pimp hat. Feather included. "It'll be at the hotel, so we gotta get back there and get ready."

"Who all's going tonight?" Lance asked, curious about tonight's company. A quick look around the group showed the fabulous five all nodding to each other, then turning towards me.

"What?" I said, wondering where all the attention was coming from.

"Well, are you going tonight?" Justin asked. I looked at Lance, who had this 'of COURSE you're coming tonight!' look on his face.

"Uhm, I......guess...... I didn't really think about it. I thought we'd just be staying at the hotel or something... But going OUT? I mean, you are THE GUYS, and I'd just be a little tag-along." All the guys went up in a montage of, "What? What the...? Are you kidding...?", and Joey pretty much set it all straight.

"Billy? You're going with us. You're one of our buds, and we're definitely not leaving you alone tonight! Besides, Jessica said that she'd like to join us, so it won't be weird or anything. We're all just going out to have some fun!" I thought for a moment, then looked at Lance again... I mean, of COURSE I knew what my decision was, but Lance's look of, 'What are you, CRAZY?' pretty much sealed my fate.

"Well, okay... sounds great. I guess I'll just tear down quickly so we can get out of here!" A round of high-fives ensued again, and the guys started to take off towards the dressing room. Lance stuck back for a split second.

"Tonight will be fun... it'll be the first chance we get to go out and hang out, ya know?"

"Yeah, it'll be totally cool!" Lance held his closed fist out, and I promptly gave him props on the knuckles.

"See ya in a while... come meet us in the dressing room, okay?" I smiled as Lance walked away, still looking over his shoulder at me. Boy oh BOY was he the most adorable thing I had ever seen! I guess our little outing tonight will delay our discussion about Victor, but I will definitely bring it up with Lance soon. All I cared about at that point, though, was tearing down and getting out of there!

"Shotgun!" Joey yelled as he was changing his shirt in the group's dressing room.

"Shotgun?" All the guys asked, curious about his statement.

"You know, first seat in the limo!" Of course, as soon as Joey said that, he realized his error and knew he was in for an evening of ridicule.

"You idiot! If you call shotgun, you'll be sitting next to the driver!" Chris called out.

"I'm okay with that, Joey's butt stinks anyway," Lance said, earning him a nice hoot from the group.

"That's fine, all the more room for all my honies in the back," JC said, stretching his arms out beside him, pretending he was holding a girl in each arm. A pillow flew across the room and hit JC in the side of the head. The thrower of the pillow, Justin, responded,

"Oh yeah, you better get a bunch of 20-dollar bills out of the ATM, 'cuz we ALL know the only kind of honeys YOU can get!" The jesting continued until there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Lance said, lighting up.

"Hey guys," Jessica said as she opened the door and entered the room. "Is everyone decent?" Joey, who was still changing his shirt, shrieked and held his hands up to cover his nipples. Jessica turned around quickly, thinking she had totally offended Joey by barging in, and the rest of the group laughed, making Jessica the new target of *NSync ridicule after Joey's 'shotgun' comment. Joey ran over and told Jessica that he was just kidding, and the whole group just goofed around for a while until there was yet another knock at the door. Lance, a bit jumpy, got up from the couch and said,

"Come in!" Smiling, Lance opened the door to find Victor with his med pack in one hand, and an ice pack in the other. Lance was now 0 for 2 on predicting boyfriend arrivals, and the smile slowly faded from his face.

"Hey Victor," Jessica said as she got up and walked to him.

"Here's the ice pack that you asked for... Is it for a sore muscle?" Victor asked as he handed the ice pack to her and set the med pack on the ground.

"No, actually it's for my head. I've been hurting all day, and I just need something to cool my forehead."

"Oh, okay. No problem then. If you need anything else, just let Billy or myself know." Once again Lance lit up, and he spoke to Victor.

"Speaking of Billy, when do you think he'll be done?" Realizing that he might have been a bit too anxious in words too, Lance added, "I mean, we're all going out soon, and we're just waiting for him."

"Ahhhh... I see. Well, he's still working on the medical station. Might be a little while, but he seemed to be keeping pretty busy. You're taking him out tonight, are ya? That should be interesting." Victor's comment sparked some mild curiosity with the band, and a LOT with Lance.

"What do you mean, interesting?" Lance asked, trying to be simply inquisitive.

"Well, he just seems like he would be fun at a party. I'll bet that he's a wild one on the inside," Victor said, seeming to egg everyone on even more. Lance appeared interested in what Victor had to say, although JC had other plans for his bandmate.

"Lance, are you still wearing your costume? How are we going to get out of here if you're still wearing that? Get back and change!" JC said, trying to get everyone hurried up so they could leave. However, Lance REALLY didn't want to go back to wardrobe, especially if Victor was talking about me. But JC gave him no choice. "Go go go go go... git!" JC said, as if he were a mother goose pushing her chicks along. Reluctantly, Lance quickly bowed out of the dressing room and bolted over to wardrobe as Victor continued talking, hoping to return as quickly as possible.

"So anyway Victor, what do you mean, Billy's a 'wild one'?" Chris asked.

"Oh, I don't know. It's just that I've worked with Billy for just about a week and a half, and he seems to have some tricks up his sleeves. Call it a gut feeling. I don't mean to say that he's being deceptive or anything, it's just that I get the feeling that underneath the preppy exterior, he's got a totally party animal interior."

"Hmmm... that's interesting. I wouldn't have pictured that, but I mean... you've worked with him!" Joey said, shrugging his shoulders and accepting Victor's words.

"Yeah, you guys have fun tonight," Victor said before he hesitated. Victor looked around the room, looking each band member and Jessica in the eye before going on. "There's just one thing... I've heard about what can happen on nights like these, and I don't know if Billy's ready for that, or even up to it for that matter." The guys were confused, and Justin asked for clarification.

"What do you mean, 'what can happen'?" Victor explained himself.

"Oh, you know... you guys go out, have a nice following of attractive girls, a little alcohol, mix it all together and... well, things happen. I don't think Billy would be up to that,...... you know...... seeing as most of your fans are...... girls."

This comment caused a myriad of physical and facial reactions to occur in the group, and each member spoke up.

"What, are you guys taking me to some drunken orgy?" Jessica joked, although apprehension was evident in her voice. Ignoring her comment, Chris spoke up in the group's defense.

"Hey, nothing inappropriate goes on when we go out! I mean, sure there are the girls and alcohol, but nothing illegal ever happens!" The rest of the guys nodded their support of Chris' comment. While Justin and Joey both nodded, they remained silent. They looked absolutely mortified, because they were the only ones in the room at that point that realized that Victor apparently 'knew' what was going on, and might know about Lance. JC's curiosity was piqued, however, and he progressed in the questioning.

"You see, nothing bad really goes on when we go out... So why don't you think 'Billy would be up to that'? What...... did you mean by that ?" JC asked hesitantly. Victor twisted his mouth, and it looked as if he were contemplating what he should say.

"Well, yeah... I don't think he'd be up to 'that'. I mean, I've worked with him for a little bit, and I get the distinct impression that......... well, he's not into girls. You know, he might be playin' for the other team." Ten unblinking eyes stared at Victor as he made the revelation to the group.

"You're so full of it, Victor!" Justin said immediately, coming to the defense. "You've known the guy for what, a week, and that's a pretty uncool thing to say." Joey was quickly by his side.

"Yeah, what's up with you coming in here and sayin' stuff like that?" Victor, calm and collected, answered his opposition.

"Hey, I'm only looking out for Billy here! I mean, like I said, I just don't think the whole 'girl' thing is up his alley. Besides, you guys kept prodding, and so I just kept answering." Glances were shared between Justin and Joey, and between Chris, JC, and Jessica. JC sat with his mouth in his hands, Chris was biting his lip, Joey eventually stared at the ground, and Justin glared at Victor. Nobody knew exactly what to say, but Chris still needed some more information, so he asked.

"Okay, how can you make these accusations? What observations have you made?

I mean, did he try to come on to you in the hotel room? I don't think he LOOKS gay at all... Why would you say these things?"

"Well, NO, if some queer tried to come on to me like that, he'd be in the hospital. But he doesn't have a girlfriend, and I don't think he EVER has... besides, why does he need a girlfriend if it seems like he's already found a guy here on the tour?" That new revelation sent the group through the roof.

"You're so full of shit!" Justin and Joey yelled, trying to discredit the EMT. JC stood up, and started pacing around the dressing room, while Jessica and Chris just sorta looked at each other. It seemed as if no one really knew what to do.

"Hey, I'm just callin' it as I see it. Not MY fault if that's the truth! All I know is that Billy is NOT single on this trip, and he ain't suckin' face with any chick here."

"Dude, that ain't right," JC muttered under his breath. "That ain't right." He spoke up and asked, "Who is it? I want to know who it is!" Victor thought for a moment, and began to answer.

"Honestly, I..."

"WHO CARES? Does it really matter? Who's business is it, anyway? It's not ours, that's for sure!" Justin interrupted as Victor was about to share the name.

"It absolutely IS our business!" JC said. "We meet this guy in San Diego that seems all great, and we throw him a bone. I mean, I really liked Billy! But now that he's on this tour, it seems like the REAL Billy comes out... He's only been here a week, and look what he's turned it into... his own little gay sex party! I'm sorry, not on this tour, not if I can do anything about it!"

"Well, let's not be hypocritical now!" Chris said to JC, shaking his head. "Don't be playin' like you're all high and mighty. Don't be acting like you're the virtuous virgin here. I KNOW you have gay friends, so why are you talkin' like this? I mean, I don't agree with what Billy's doing, but I DO know about your little bedroom activities on tour, and you have NO right to be judging anyone here. In case you haven't noticed, there's no difference between what you're doing and what Billy's doing."

"Well, yeah Chris, there is. There REALLY is. I mean, if Billy's queer, I guess that's his own business. I don't want to be any part of it but, HEY, it's a free country, right? Now, we all find cool girls along the way on tour... you're no different, Chris... but at least we get to know them a little bit. I don't just hop in bed with the first person that comes along, like our 'friend' Billy." No one spoke, so JC turned from his bandmates and faced Victor again, probing one last time for the name he wanted. "Who is it?"

At this point, Justin and Joey were powerless. The entire crowd seemed shocked into silence at JC's response to Chris, and didn't even make a peep. Only Jessica seemed uncomfortable, and she spoke up.

"Hey I better go. I'm just intruding here, and I don't want to get in the way... I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Jessica continued to apologize as she hastily made her way to the door and exited. JC, apparently unphased by Jessica's departure, persisted.

"Well?"

Victor took a deep breath and shook his head slowly as he spoke again. "I don't know." The group looked up at Victor with looks of amazement.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" asked JC. Victor continued, but this time he looked at Joey and Justin.

"I mean, I don't know. I didn't see a face. He wasn't like holding hands in public. All I know is that he's got himself a 'friend', and there have been some compromising moments in the darkness that I've passively observed...... Listen, I didn't mean to cause all these problems... Like I said, I was just trying to look out for Billy." Victor shook his head and 'appeared' regretful about the situation he caused, and he continued speaking. "I've caused enough trouble here... I better go. Don't be mad at Billy, he's done nothing wrong here. He's a good kid, really."

Victor proceeded to pick up his medical pack and turn his back to the silent crowd in the dressing room. JC shook his head, Chris stared at the rest of the group, Justin had a look of anger and frustration, and Joey sat completely stunned. As he left the dressing room, however, the regretful look on Victor's face was slowly replaced with a small smile.

"Geez, why does wardrobe have to take such a long time?" Lance said under his breath as he zipped out the door of wardrobe wearing a pair of shorts and a towel over his shoulder. The people in the wardrobe department were taking their sweet precious time, and Lance just wanted to get OUT of there and back to the dressing room! "I hope Billy shows up soon, so we can get out of here!" Lance continued to mutter to himself. Lance's comments were halted as he saw Victor approaching with a smile on his face.

"Hey Lance," Victor said as they neared each other.

"Hey Victor," Lance responded with a concerned but hopeful look on his face.

"You guys have fun tonight, okay?" Apparently surprised by Victor's well-wishing, Lance paused for a moment, and finally answered.

"Thanks, Victor, I'm sure we will! Have a good few days off, yourself." Victor stopped for a moment and corrected Lance.

"Actually, my contract runs through Sunday, but since the next two days are 'off', today's my last shift. I leave for home tommorow." Stunned, Lance said,

"Really?! I didn't realize. Well, it's been good working with you."

"Likewise with you. Best of luck!" Victor reached out a hand, and they shook goodbye. Lance smiled at Victor's apparent kindness. Both returned to their original paths, and both had smiles growing slowly on their faces.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, LANCE has entered the building," Lance blurted as he walked through the door of the dressing room. His perkiness hit a brick wall, however, as he caught a look at the faces before him. JC was vigorously packing up some stuff into his travel bag, Chris was staring at a deck of cards, and Justin and Joey were both staring at Lance. Nothing about the body language in the room, especially that coming from the last two, said positive things about the conversation he had missed. Although he didn't know exactly what had transpired, the sinking feeling in his chest said it was big. Really big. "What's going on?" Lance forced himself to ask.

"Nothing. Everything's FINE." JC answered sarcastically. Lance wasn't going to probe any further, even though his face said that he still wanted answers. He looked to Justin for answers, but Justin's stare gave no relief. All he could do was look at Justin shake his head with big eyes and his mouth slightly ajar, and try to translate that into what was going on. Lance decided to try to change subjects in order to cut the tension down.

"So I guess all we're waiting for Billy, then we can get out of here, right?" Everyone looked up again, and JC responded.

"I don't think I'm gunna go out tonight." An answer like that would usually cock some heads, but it affected no response other than Lance's.

"What do you mean?"

"You guys go and have your fun with Billy; I'm just going to go do something else tonight. I've just... uhm, ..." JC paused, then continued. "Nevermind. You guys just go out and do whatever you want."

"What are you talking about, JC?" Lance asked, starting to get an idea about what might have occurred just previously in the dressing room. JC stopped shoving stuff into his bag and looked up at Lance.

"You wanna know? Well, I guess you'd find out eventually, so here it goes... your little buddy Billy? Well, it turns out that......" JC turned to his bandmates, hesitated, and continued. "Well...... dude, Billy's a homo." Although somewhat shocked that JC, and the whole group for that matter, knew my little secret, Lance was quick on the rebound.

"That's crazy! Who told you that?" Lance was doing his best to maintain a nonchalant posture with this revelation.

"Victor did," JC said. "I guess he's seen Billy getting it on with some guy on the crew. Well, maybe not 'getting it on', but at least slapping it around in the dark."

"That's so stupid. You're going to believe Victor over Billy? Who do you know better? Who do you know to be a better person, more honest?"

JC thought for a while, and finally answered. "Honestly, Lance? I don't know right now. Victor was just sharing observations. Billy? Well... I mean...... come on... if YOU were gay, do you think YOU'D be flaunting it all over the place? Being totally honest about 'who you were'? I don't think so!"

"I still think you're crazy to believe him. Victor's an ass, and has never liked Billy from the start. I mean, none of US have ever liked Victor! We've all known Billy a lot longer than we've known Victor, and I just don't see that in Billy."

"Yeah, but I've had a feeling about Billy since we met him in San Diego. I mean, I can't explain it. He doesn't LOOK gay, and it's a tiny little feeling. I haven't had the feeling for a long time, but with everything Victor said, it all came back, and it's making sense now. ...how he's always hanging out with the 'guys' on the crew. How he's always buddying up with 'us'. He doesn't hang out with any girls!" Although Lance was getting infuriated with JC's false impressions and stereotypes, he was still quick on the response.

"JC, listen to yourself... of COURSE he hangs out with guys... he's on a tour where the crew is 90% male! Besides, he rides on OUR bus, so of COURSE he's going to hang out with us. I mean, I hope you're not shallow enough to think that if a guy hangs out with his buddies, he's automatically gay! That's pretty pathetic, JC."

JC, who had been pretty calm about the whole situation, flared up at Lance. "No Lance, I think it's pretty pathetic that YOU'VE known this guy the longest, YOU'RE the one that helped get him this job, YOU'RE the one that kept in touch with him, and you don't realize that it is YOUR fault that he's here doing what he's doing. He's turned this tour into a gay brothel!"

At that point, a sudden and calming realization came over Lance. At first, it was a light numbness in his body. Then, a slow release of the tension he was feeling. Finally, it was the foreknowledge that honesty, although sometimes painful, was the best policy. Lance then proceeded on an irreversible path that would have unknown consequences. Lance turned to JC and addressed him very slowly, deliberately, and calmly.

"You know what, JC? You're right... about one thing, at least. Billy IS gay. I'll give you that. This I've known for a while." Lance continued, but with more force in his voice. "But I WILL tell you that Billy hasn't turned this tour into a perverted queer orgy. This much I know. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but not every gay person adheres to these stereotypes that you seem to hold so dear." Surprised at Lance's change in attitude, JC seemed inquisitive as to why.

"I knew it! Okay, he's gay. So how have you suddenly become so in touch with Billy's mindset? Who's 'feminine side' did you recently get in touch with to get this knowledge?" JC's response only elicited a calmer answer from Lance.

"You don't need to be 'in touch with your feminine side' to understand people, JC. You just need to know them. You need to get deep down and see their heart. Honestly, I thought I knew you, JC. But apparently there's something that I missed in all those years of talks we've had. I thought you were a little more open-minded than this. Billy? He's someone I've gotten to know well. Billy is a very special person whom I've grown to admire a lot. He's smart, creative, ambitious, and he makes me laugh. I've found a great friend... and more in him." Lance paused to check the reactions of his bandmates, and he received visual support from Justin, Joey, and even a little from a confused Chris. JC simply stared and wondered if Lance's speech could end up where he was thinking it might... and hoping it wouldn't. Lance continued.

"No, Billy isn't having any orgies, he's not hopping into bed with every guy he meets, and he's not here to turn this tour into a 'queer' bath house. At least, I hope not! I think his boyfriend would have a pretty good insight on that." JC's bubble had been burst, and all he could whisper was,

"What did you just say?" Lance took a deep breath while closing his eyes, and laid it all out on the line. Now was the moment of truth, and he was embracing it. Lance opened his eyes and looked at JC.

"I love Billy very much, and Billy is my boyfriend..." Lance took another deep breath. "and I.........am gay."

*Ahhhh, the saga continues. You didn't think I could leave a chapter without a cliffhanger, did you? :) *Please stay tuned, as the next chapter of Twist of Fate will be out shortly (we all hope and pray). Thanks for reading and writing-I appreciate EVERYONE who takes the time to check out my story!! Love ya...

~Jeff kaiser_goof@hotmail.com