Twist of Fate

***Props go to all my readers (all 5 of you), to David at Nifty, to the Energizer bunny, and to milk... because it does a body good. To my great friend, Ad. ... You're awesome! If you haven't read his story "Tests of Friendship", I recommend it.

Wow... this whole school thing is really kicking my butt. I really hope I can keep the chapters up with my school load. If you'd still like to see regular chapters of Twist of Fate, please drop me a quick line letting me know you're reading. I love chatting and making new friends, too.

Well, instead of you reading all this whoop-la, I'll just get to the good stuff. Check ch 1 for the warning about the homosexual and FICTIONAL content of this story. If it's legal for you to read, enjoy! If not, enjoy anyway!

*Communication is my fuel! Thanks to you all. ~Jeff

Previously on Twist of Fate...

As soon as I hung up the phone, something hit me hard in my mind. For someone I had just met, I had gotten very close to, and dare I say, a bit careless around Lance. I could remember at least half a dozen questionable comments (like the one above) that had slipped out of my mouth to Lance that would have caused most guys to lift an eyebrow at me. Lance would smile and nearly blush at some of my slips, when the correct, 'hetero' response would have been to back off and question the person's intentions. It seemed like he was enjoying the attention, but I started getting scared that I was being a bit too, well, friendly. Holding his hand last night. Patting and rubbing his back. These were not necessarily things that a 'straight' friend would initiate. Why did Lance have to be so confusing?

I decided that I needed to watch what I said and did around him, though my feelings wanted to betray me. I reminded myself that Lance was my good friend first and foremost, and I would never do anything that could remotely damage the bond we had. He was too precious for that!

I was excited about seeing Lance tonight, but dreading the restraint I'm sure I would have to exercise. Give me strength!

• • • • • • Chapter 6

I snapped back to reality, putting this whole thought process on the back burner. Although I had spent all day in an air conditioned office, I decided to freshen up. I hadn't had a shower this morning, and I felt quite ripe. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a blue/tan Hawaiian shirt out of my closet and laid them out on the bed. As usual, I shucked my clothes into the hamper and wandered down to the bathroom in the buff. I hopped into the shower, cranking the water on as hot as I could stand it. 'Ahhhh...' It felt good. I began to lather up my body in the usual, methodical system one tends to form after showering for 20 years. I started with my chest, up to my right arm pit and arm, then the left pit and arm. Shoulders were next. I was getting a nice lather going, so I soaped up the rest of my torso.

I glanced down at my nipples, noticing they had gotten a bit hard, despite the hot water. With the soap in one hand, I reached up and played with my nipple for a second. Wow, that felt good. I tried to remember the last time I had taken the opportunity to explore myself, and my memory registered a blank. The nipple stimulation was enough to get a bit more going down stairs. I glanced down and noticed that my dick was starting to rise to the occasion. Putting my shower on hold for a while, I lathered up my palm. I reached down, gently grabbing and squeezing the girth of my member. A jolt of energy surged through me simply from a lack of stimulation lately in that region. I began stroking up and down my circumcised penis, reveling in the sensations being created by the friction on my love skin. I closed my eyes and thought of an image that could accompany my masturbation. However, no matter how hard I tried, the only image that popped into my hormone-crazed mind was Lance. I debated this for a moment, and finally decided that my friendship with Lance would be compromised if I used him in such a way. Being a virgin, all my masturbation fantasies were just that-fantasies. It's a whole new element when that fantasy is a real, viable part of your life. To me, using Lance like that would have been like, turning him into my little mental slut. While I might joke about how that's exactly what I'd want, the REAL me just wasn't okay with it. With feelings of both frustration and satisfaction, I opened my eyes, looked down, and released my grip. My libido would have to take a bit longer vacation. Thankfully for 'the plumbing', I had only just started! I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing once again I had made the best decision for myself.

I had just put the shampoo in my hair when there was a knock at the bathroom door. I nearly messed myself right there in the shower. Who could be here?!?

"Billy? It's Lance." Okay, question answered. My heart calmed, but fluttered just a moment later as I realized I was showering while Lance stuck his head in the bathroom.

"Oh hey!! You're here early!" I stuck my head out the curtain, being sure the rest of me was covered.

"Actually, no. Right on time. You in the shower again? What's up with you and long showers? Haha."

"Well you know, gotta smell good for my guests!"

"Aw, you always smell good," Lance answered. Why did Lance tease me so? If only he knew he was tearing me up inside. "Anyway... I'm here. I just came through the front door. I'll get set up in the kitchen."

"Alright. I'll hurry."

"No need. Take your time!" With that, he smiled and closed the door. 'Take your time?' What did he think I was doing in there? Well, he was almost right. 'OHMYGOSH! Imagine if I had kept going and he had caught me!' I ignored that horror and flushed all such thought processes out, finishing my shower in record time. I stepped out, realizing my clothes were in my room and all I had was a towel. Neeeeat. I dried off, wrapped the towel, and proceeded out the bathroom to my room. However, Lance caught me.

"Dude, why is it you're always half naked when ever I come over here?" Not knowing how to answer, I blushed and shrugged. Even though he was a good ten feet away, he saw my cheeks go red, and said, "Oh, there he goes again, Mr. Blush. You better get some clothes on, boy!"

"Shut up. I'm going to get dressed now." I walked quickly into my bedroom and pulled on my outfit, then proceeded back to the bathroom to quickly do my hair and brush my teeth. I then walked out of the bathroom and into the kitchen, feeling the eeriest form of deja vous as I saw the refrigerator door open and Lance's head hidden within.

"Whoa," I said, "I feel like I've been here before." Lance glanced up, looking at me strangely, until he realized what I was talking about. He smiled and nodded. "So Mr. Chef, I guess I'm not allowed to ask what's for dinner, but can I poke around your stuff?" I asked as I noticed a few paper bags on the counter.

"Be my guest. It won't be a secret for long... you're going to help me with it, anyway." I walked over to the two bags and started pulling things out. Lettuce. Onion. Tomatoes. Boneless chicken filets. Corn. Another type of lettuce. A lemon. Root beer-AH! I love root beer.

"How'd you know I love root beer?"

"I didn't... Root beer is MY favorite drink!" I raised an eyebrow and started humming the theme to Twilight Zone. We both smiled, and Lance continued, "Okay, you can help make the salad. We need to tear the lettuce up, and chop these veggies..." I started doing as I was told while Lance went outside and started the grill. He then made a marinade for the chicken, and wrapped the corn in foil. My mouth was watering just THINKING about how good this was going to be.

It was a nice summer evening, so I cleaned off the patio table and set two place settings. Our house being close to a small stream and prone to insect visits, I set out two of the small bug-deterring candles and a box of matches. I lit the two tiki torches that were permanently stuck in the ground around the patio area. In the meantime, Lance was grilling up both the chicken and the corn on the grill. I don't know how he did it. Everything on the grill looked like it was cooking up perfectly, yet Lance and I were talking, and he was in and out of the house, sipping on a root beer, not seeming to concentrate on the grill at all.

"Almost ready!" Lance yelled inside. I grabbed a big serving plate and brought it to him at the grill, on which he proceeded to place the most delicious chicken filets and corn cobs I had ever seen. I put the plate on the table, and started to sit when Lance said, "WAIT. I'll be RIGHT back." I went ahead and sat down, lighting the bug candles. He returned with two new bottles of root beer, which he proceeded to decap and hand one to me. He said, "Awwww... A candle-lit dinner just for ME!"

"Yeah, but the candles are to deter pests. So... shoo. Shoo!" I said, waving my hands at him. He laughed and sat down, looking at me, saying,

"Here you go, my friend, Chicken a la Lance."

"Is everything you make 'a la Lance'?"

"Hey... I have to maintain credit, eh?" We both dug in. The chicken was fantastic! I don't know what the marinade was, but it made the chicken so tender and juicy that it melted in my mouth. I complimented Lance after every bite. He just smiled and nodded. The meal was too perfect. Chicken a la Lance, corn on the cob, freshly tossed salad, and ROOT BEER. What could make it better? Lance answered THAT question.

"You better save room for desert!"

"Oh, THANKS. Now you tell me! I think I can manage. What are we having?" I knew immediately I wasn't going to get an answer. "Oh, stupid question #4. I know. Nevermind." We started talking about our day since I had left that morning. I shared the whole fiasco about being late, getting yelled at, finishing early, my lunch break, blah blah blah. He apologized again for making me late, and I wouldn't hear of accepting his words. It was, in fact, my fault for not setting an alarm clock or something. In all honesty, I'd do it again if it meant spending another evening like that with Lance. I, of course, didn't share that with HIM!

He then told me about his day. He and the rest of the guys had a quick morning meeting with Roger and Peter about the 'chameleon' procedure, then he, JC, and Justin went to the hotel gym for a long work out. He spent the rest of the day in JC's room with Chris hanging out until it was time to leave and come over here.

"What's the chameleon procedure?" He realized he had been talking another language, so he clarified.

"Sorry. It's N'Sync code. Have you noticed that there weren't many fans at the hotel yesterday when you drove up?"

"Yeah, I did notice that. I thought it was kinda weird."

"We don't actually stay at hotels that often. We're usually on the bus after each concert, heading to the next venue. It can get kinda rough, but we do get to chill at hotels on long stays or vacation time, like now. Well, 'chameleon' is a sneaky little tactic that management does when we are staying at hotels. We might be staying at the Marriott, but management leaks that we'd be at the Hilton, or Embassy, or Motel 6, or something. There's usually four or five different stories circulating about our arrangements. So all the fans camp out for a night at those hotels, not ours. They all go home when they realize we're not there. It's a little mean for the other hotels, but it's for our safety."

"That's sneaky! BUT a good idea. I never thought about that before."

"Yeah, management has a few tricks up their sleeves when it comes to diverting attention away from us so we can travel safely. They like our exposure to be in safe, controlled settings, like press conferences, autograph signings, stuff like that. They'd probably frown a bit at us going to the ballgame last night, but we took all the precautions."

We chatted a bit more until I reminded him that we still had Austin Powers to watch.

"Yeah, Baby!" was his only response as he leapt from the table and started clearing the dishes from the meal. I helped him, blowing out the candles and torches as he proceeded to the kitchen. I rewound the movie, turned on the TV and turned on the lamp in the living room, ensuring a comfortable setting.

"The secret is revealed!" Lance said as he walked in to the living room with two bowls and two spoons in hand. I cocked an eyebrow, curious about what the desert could be. Lance handed me a bowl and a spoon, and I smiled when I saw the bowl's contents.

"Oh, it's my favorite!" Lance had gotten the same peanut butter cup yummy ice cream I had last night.

"And it's not a little bowl like last time, I got two half-gallons of the stuff. You know, I think they should make ice cream one of the major food groups. Let's see... ice cream..."

"Chocolate..."

"Chocolate is good. Ketchup..."

"Hehehe... and pizza."

"Okay, the four major food groups. Ice cream, chocolate, ketchup, and pizza. Think they'll go for it?" I shook my head, laughing, with a spoonful of ice cream in my mouth. Lance just shrugged. I pressed play on the remote, and settled back to enjoy the movie with my friend. This time, we were able to get through the whole thing without distractions like... oh, falling asleep. Once, however, I got up to refill our ice cream, but I hit pause. When I returned, I hopped back on the couch and laid down. However, Lance had hopped off the love seat and moved over to my couch, sitting on the floor and leaning his back on the middle cushion by my mid-section. Hmmm... I shrugged, but didn't mentally dismiss it. I smiled, glad that Lance was comfortable. The rest of the movie progressed without incident.

As the closing credits started to roll, I spoke up, saying, "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm in the mood for some more root beer!" I started getting up to retrieve the beverages, but Lance had different plans.

"No don't worry about it. I'll ge... OUCH!" His exclamation of pain caused me to snap my eyes to him. He had reached back to help himself up by pushing up on the cushions of the couch. However, his arms or back or something must have given out, because he was now on his side, laying on the floor, holding his lower back.

"Are you okay? What happened?" As I spoke, I swung my body into a sitting position and leaned over his body, subconsciously retracting my hand after reaching to him.

"I'm OUCH alright. I guess I pushed myself a bit too hard with the guys today at the gym. I hadn't worked out for weeks, and I always get sore and rubbery the first time back."

"Where does it hurt?" I asked. Although I was trying to be macho to cover my exuberant concern for Lance, he still picked it up from my voice.

"I'll be fine. It doesn't hurt anywhere, specifically. I worked everything today-legs, chest, arms, back. I knew I shouldn't have pushed myself so hard."

"Okay, how's this. I'LL get the root beer, you stay here. Deal?" Lance nodded.

"Deal." I got up and retrieved two more root beers from the fridge. How many of these did he buy? There were still a dozen bottles left! I walked back to find Lance lying on his front, trying to stretch his arms backwards, quite unsuccessfully, from my perspective. I set both drinks on the end table, sat down on the couch, and watched my friend struggle. I was afraid to help him, now paranoid of making any kind of physical contact with him. Of course, as fate would have it, Lance made things worse for me.

"Billy, can you stretch my arms back? My chest is really tight." Trying not to grin at the hidden double meaning of Lance's words, I rolled my eyes in defeat and agreed. I knelt down next to him and pulled his arms backwards, ever so slowly and gently. A strained grunt came from Lance's mouth, and I quickly released the tension. "No no... that's a good thing. That feels... really... good." I continued to stretch him out, causing Lance to grunt and moan a few more times.

"There you go, hope that feels better." Thinking my task was over, I lowered his hands to his sides. Lance, however, kept me in torment.

"Hey, another favor. Could you try to pop my back? It's easy, just put your hands together and press..." I interrupted.

"Yeah, yeah. I've done it before. Sure." Dang it, Lance! Why do you have to be like this? I hesitated for a moment, then decided to dive right in. I stood over Lance's rear, leaning down and placing my palms on his spine. I counted out, "One, Two, Three..." as Lance exhaled and I pressed down/forward into his body. Lance and I were both rewarded with a handful of pops coming from his back.

"Unhhhhhhhhhh..." That's all Lance needed to say. I moved up a few inches and repeated the process, with similar results. As I was just finishing the last of my back treatment, Lance said the absolute worst thing he could possibly say in my current mental dilemma. "That was GREAT! Thanks. We usually have a masseuse with us on tour. They usually take care of us when we're aching or tight or whatever. I wish ours hadn't gone home after the concert. I could really use a back rub."

'AWWWWW HELL!' I thought. 'STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT! You're killing me here Lance! I like you as more than a friend, yet showing you would kill the special friendship we have. But all you can do tonight is ask me to touch you. You're killing me here! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!' As these thoughts flew through my brain, it was all I could do not to get totally pissed at my poor, helpless sore-beyond-belief friend lying on the floor. I sighed and thought, 'Aw, screw it all!', as I said,

"Well, I'm not your masseuse, but I'll have to do." I proceeded to sit on his back and start rubbing his shoulder muscles carefully. I slowly kneaded his back and neck muscles, taking care not to squeeze too hard. He was really tense.

"Ohhh... that's good. Yeah, that's good. Where'd you learn that?" I couldn't believe I hadn't told him.

"My first semester at the junior college, I was looking into physical therapy and sports medicine. I took a few classes that really sucked. But I do remember quite a bit from this massage class I took."

"Unhhh... as far as I'm concerned, you're hired. Kick that lady out. She's... unhhhh... gone..." I smiled at his comment, but still mad (not really) that he dragged me down into this situation. After a few minutes of working on his arms, neck, shoulders, and upper back, I was ready to move down. However, I was sitting on his lower back... this made it difficult to reach. I rolled my eyes at myself in personal defeat and decided to take yet another plunge... and slide back to sit on Lance's butt. I just hoped Lance didn't turn around and catch the 'growing situation' I had in my pants. I continued the massage for about 20 more minutes. I finally patted him three times between the shoulder blades and stood up. I couldn't tell if I was relieved or disappointed. Lance looked up at me with a pout on his face, however, and it was clear to me that HE was disappointed.

"Ah, I see yet another satisfied customer," I said as I glanced over and noticed the two root beer bottles sitting on the table.

"VERY satisfied. When can I make another appointment?" I handed him a root beer and answered,

"Well, I'm a very busy person, being Mr. Twinkle Fingers and all. I'm all booked up for... another few minutes while I enjoy my drink." Lance had sat up and was leaning on the couch cushion, sipping from his bottle.

"Thank you again. I owe you big-time for that one."

"Why didn't you say you were so sore? I'd have pulled the cover off the jacuzzi for you!"

"You have a JACUZZI?" Oh CRAP. WHAT HAVE I DONE? I would LOVE to get in a jacuzzi with Lance, but that would almost be too much for me to handle. I hoped and prayed Lance would change his mind, decide it was too late, decide he wanted to watch TV, restring his shoe laces, ANYTHING besides going in the jacuzzi. Fate was not on my side.

"I could REALLY use a dip in a jacuzzi. Is it working? Is it hot? Do you think we could?"

"It works fine. I checked the chemicals the other day and it's perfect." Kill me now!

"You want to go in?" Smiling at the complete and utter defeat of my will power, I nodded.

"I'm assuming you didn't bring a suit. I'll go get one for ya." I walked to my room, grabbed two swimsuits, and spoke to myself in the mirror. "Why me? Why me?" LONG PAUSE. "This is turning into quite the twist of fate, isn't it, Billy?" I then walked back out to the living room and handed him the suit, directing him to change in my bathroom, and to grab two towels on the way out. I went back to my room, changed, and ran out to the jacuzzi, which was around the backside of the house. I popped the cover off, checking the temperature. 103 degrees. PERFECT. Now to wait.

I ran and grabbed a nearby lawn chair, and pulled it next to the jacuzzi, sitting down. Lance emerged from around the corner about two minutes later. My first glimpse of him literally sucked the air out of lungs. He was wearing my green swim trunks, and his undershirt. His legs were lightly tanned with just a hint of hair from the knees down. His feet looked even cuter now than they did the other night as they dangled off the couch. The shorter sleeves of his undershirt showed off more of his arms than I had ever seen, live or in pictures. The shirt clung to his shapely torso and abdomen. I had to rip my eyes from that sight. The problem was, I knew it was going to get even worse minus his shirt and plus the water! AHH!

"You ready? The water's great!" I said as I grabbed the towels and draped them over the chair in which I was sitting, trying to avoid looking at his perfection.

"Sure! Let's go." I climbed up the steps and slowly lowered myself into the above-ground jacuzzi. I walked to the other side and sat on the edge, my knees and lower legs submerged, facing Lance. He paused for a second, and climbed up the steps. I spoke up as a friendly reminder,

"You don't want to get your shirt wet, do you?" I watched his eyes, and saw them wince ever so slightly. He hesitated again, turned around, and started tugging at the bottom of his shirt. That's when it hit me. I'd never seen a picture on the Internet of Lance shirtless. He was ALWAYS wearing shirts! Even in those shirtless in-the-pool shots of the group, Lance always wound up hiding behind the rest of the group. And now, he was acting shy about taking off his shirt. My eyes got big as I realized that Lance might be insecure about this aspect of his looks! But how? I'm sure he looked great! I don't know how, but all the indications seemed to point to it.

I saw Lance slowly turn back around, so I could only look away out of respect for what I thought was his insecurity. I pretended to look at the stars as he hopped into the tub. Sure enough, he submerged quickly until his chest was covered. I felt bad for my friend, and vowed I'd try to build him up and encourage him about it before the night was through. I looked back at him and smiled, and he smiled back. I slowly dipped myself in, reaching for the buttons that controlled the lights and jets. In seconds, we were surrounded by a blue-lit foam of moving water. Lance let out a sigh, enjoying his first moment of relief since he walked out to the jacuzzi.

We started talking about music, touring, and the rigors of traveling for a while. I still participated in the conversation in full, but I was formulating an appropriate way to bring up the whole 'shirtless' thing in the back of my head. An idea had come to mind, but I wanted to do a quick experiment to be absolutely sure I was grounded in my suspicions. This is something I wouldn't want to mess up!

"Oh man, I forgot my root beer inside! It's still three-quarters full," I said, watching Lance.

"Oh, me too. It's just sitting on the coffee table." SILENCE. Neither of us moved. We stared at each other for a few seconds until I spoke up and started to stand.

"I'll go get them. You stay and enjoy the water." Lance seemed to be relieved, and he scooted to the side of the jacuzzi so I could pass. I went inside, retrieved the bottles, and returned, thinking the whole time that Lance would have been up in a second to get the drinks if he DIDN'T have some sort of insecurity. Now it was time to practice my magic. I hope it doesn't backfire! I hopped back in, finding Lance in my old spot. I settled in his old spot and handed him his drink. We relaxed for a few more moments until I spoke up again.

"How often do you guys have photo shoots?"

"Oh man, it can really vary. We could have three one week, then none for a few weeks. It just depends if any magazines are doing stories, or if we have promo stuff to do for MTV or something. In addition to group shoots, each of us have separate shoots for the PR folks to send to all the teeny-bopper magazines."

"Huh. I was just wondering. I've hopped around on the Internet, and I've seen a some pictures of the group and in each one, you all have different outfits and hair-dos."

"Yeah, we're always getting our pictures taken. It's flattering, but sometimes wearing on our nerves."

"Not that I've taken specific notice or anything, but why is Justin always shirtless? Is he some kind of fetish guy or something?" We both started chuckling.

"Yeah, Justin can't seem to keep his clothes on. Hehe. The photographers think more skin is better, and I guess that's what sells magazines. They always try to get us all shirtless, and Justin always volunteers." Thank you, Lance. You're playing right into my little game.

"Do you ever go shirtless?" The moment of truth. Lance paused for a moment, and answered,

"Nah, usually they're usually cool with Justin. Nobody wants to see that anyway!" I got a bit more bold.

"Hmm... not that I look at a lot of group pics, mind you, but I remember a pool shot where they got a shot of you guys in your trunks. I think you were hiding in the back, weren't you?" Lance looked down at the water, as if searching for the answer.

"Yeah, I remember that one. Well...... that's just where the photographer placed me. That's all." CRAP. Dead end. Okay, new approach.

"I wish I could look good in photos. I never take my shirt off for the camera, or I turn away if I'm in the pool or something. I don't want to get my scrawniness caught on camera."

"Scrawniness? Whatever. You don't look scrawny at all!" Lance said. I continued to play.

"Yeah, whatever. Mr. Pencil Arms, that's me. I don't get to work out all the time like SOMEBODY I know," I said, hinting at Lance.

"Oh please, I haven't worked out for a long time. And when I do, I hardly ever see any results." Here was my chance.

"No results? What are you talking about? You look very healthy, and I can tell you work out!" Lance looked straight down into the water, and I could tell he was smiling at the compliment. However, he quickly wiped the smile off his face and looked back up, determined to win this argument.

"Well, I don't think everybody else would see it like that. It doesn't matter what I do; I still can't make my body look like I want it."

"And how exactly DO you want it to look?"

"I don't know... I want it to look... good. Everyone is always gaa-gaa over Justin and JC when they take their shirts off, and I can't hold a candle to them." He was depressing both of us by his stubbornness. I was starting to get mad again at Lance, this time for being such a downer on himself. I took the ultimate step and said,

"Stand up!" Lance looked shocked, and started shaking his head slowly. "Stand up! You've seen me shirtless, now it's my turn!" Again, Lance looked down in the water, trying to get away from the situation. I knew I was making this very difficult for him, but it would be all over once he stood up and I could give him some affirmation.

"Billy, I... I'm uncomfortable."

"Lance, it's me... your friend. I want you to trust me. You don't have to hide anything from me," I said. I know this crossed WAY over the line I had drawn for myself earlier, but I didn't care. Some other force had taken over me by this point. I wanted to make Lance feel good about himself once and for all.

Lance slowly looked up, sighed in defeat, and started to stand. His shoulders emerged first, then his upper chest, then his nipples, then his upper torso, then his abs, then his swim suit. There he was. Standing in front of me. He was lightly tanned and his chest was perfectly smooth. His nipples were average-sized, and a bit darker than most. His pecs were well shaped, yet were lacking a lot of definition, leaving him with a very strong youthful look. His stomach was neither fat nor flat... it was a perfect young belly. There was a slight emergence of muscle definition in his abs that could be seen slightly through the skin. The water beads sticking to his skin only accentuated his appearance. In my wildest dreams, I could not have imagined Lance's body to look so good. I stood up to face Lance, about two feet away from him.

"Lance, I don't know what you're thinking, but you're beautiful. You have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. You're beautiful..." I knew he could hear me, but he couldn't see me because his head was turned to the side, looking down into the water. He was just shaking his head slowly. I reached up with my hand and gently turned his head to face mine. Our eyes made contact, but something jumped inside me that had never moved before when I looked at Lance. Something about his eyes had changed. His look, his stare. I couldn't get away from it! I didn't dare blink for fear that he'd be gone when I opened my eyes. My hand was still on the side of his chin, and for some reason, I couldn't remove it. Actually, quite the opposite. That unknown force that was controlling me caused my hand to move up and ever so gently grab his face around his jaw, with my thumb lying lightly on his cheek. A voice began to speak, and I realized it was mine,

"You are beautiful, Lance. You are such a beautiful person." I couldn't believe what was happening! I was trying to figure out what exactly had possessed me to say these things, when I realized that the distance between our faces had moved from about two feet to one foot. 'OH WOW.' My heart nearly burst out of my chest. Snapping out of my trance, I discovered Lance's face slowly approaching, his eyes barely open. My eyesight quickly blacked out as I closed my eyes. As if my magnetic attraction, our lips met for the first time. The oral contact sent shivers up and down my spine. I had subconsciously parted my lips slightly before contact, and I found one of Lance's lips held firmly between mine. I massaged his lower lip with mine, then moved on to the top lip. We broke for a split second, then immediately engaged in a full lip lock, our heads turning slightly. I lifted my other hand to lightly hold Lance's neck, and he responded by reaching up and resting his hands around my neck. As if we had mutually agreed telepathically, our tongues stayed in own mouths. I just wanted to savor this glittering instant. All time stood still as Lance and I shared our first intimate moment. The water was swirling, our bodies were wet and painted blue by the jacuzzi light, and we were engaged in a kiss that would have put most movie stars to shame.

Two minutes, ten minutes, four hours, five days. Who knows how much time had passed during our romantic exchange. We broke our kiss and held our foreheads together, looking down. I had moved my hands down to hold his shoulders, while his hands remained lightly on my neck. I didn't want to speak, lest I ruin this perfect moment. Lance thought differently. Of course, he could never ruin anything by speaking!

"I've wanted to do that since we met." I moved my head back and released his shoulders, looking deep into his eyes.

"I've wanted to do that longer!" Reality was slowly seeping back into my mind, and I glanced down to notice that both Lance and I were sporting some pretty serious hard-ons through our suits. We both quickly submerged, and blushed at the mutually embarassing moment. After a light laugh, Lance spoke again.

"I can't believe that just happened. Did we just kiss?" I slowly nodded, still in a haze. Lance continued, "I'm so glad I met you, Billy. You're like no one I've ever known. You make me feel so good about myself, both inside... and out," he said, glancing down and referring to the whole shirtless thing. "I can't believe there's someone in the world like you." Totally amazed that these words were being said to me, I reached through the water to grab Lance's hand. Making contact, I responded,

"Lance, YOU are the amazing one. You are so caring, so compassionate; you make me smile whenever I'm around you!" He turned his head away again, but this time he was smiling and blushing.

"Awww... stop it!"

"HA! I made YOU blush! Finally..." This made him blush even more. I was enjoying every moment of torturing Lance. This was quite the role reversal! We goofed around for a few more minutes before Lance said,

"I don't know about you, but I'm starting to prune up. Wanna get out?" I nodded as I moved to the edge, my hard-on having subsided over the past few minutes. As I climbed over the edge, I glanced over to Lance and caught him looking at me. It startled him, and he looked away, smiling. I just smiled and shook my head as I climbed out and helped him out of the tub. He reached for the towels and spread one out, reaching around my back and wrapping it around my shoulders. I snatched the second towel, doing the same to him. But this time, I pulled him into a hug. His arms went around my shoulders and mine around his waist. There we hugged and swayed, enjoying the warm summer night air and, more importantly, each other. I wanted to sit down with him and talk about everything- our new relationship, his history with relationships, families, love, commitment, EVERYTHING. But my emotions squashed my logic and I simply allowed myself to be consumed by my new-found friend.

Regrettably, we broke the embrace as I started to shiver. Lance looked at me with concern, and started dragging me inside. We walked inside and proceeded to my bedroom where I grabbed two pairs of shorts and two T shirts for us to change into (I know, original). I tossed Lance his set and offered him my bathroom to shower and change. Knowing that there was no way we could shower together (not yet), he nodded and smiled, disappearing into the bathroom. I took my clothes into my sister's bathroom and proceeded to shower and change. Feeling refreshed, I walked into the living room a new man. I was totally energized, and I felt like I could conquer the world. The only problem? Lance wasn't by my side. I heard the bathroom door open down the hall, and knew Lance was on his way. I sat in my traditional spot on the couch, and Lance came in moments later and sat in his spot. We looked at each other and I spoke up, using his line from a few days ago,

"Penny for your thoughts?" He grinned and responded,

"I don't know what to say. WOW, maybe? It seems like this whole thing is moving so quickly, but at the same time the last few days have moved in slow motion whenever I'm around you. What I do know is I've found something amazing in you and I don't want to let that go." He extended a hand which I grabbed and squeezed, thanking him for his encouragement.

"So... what now? Where do we go from here? I guess things have changed a bit in the last, oh, hour, don't you think?"

"Yes, they have... for the better. To answer your question? I don't know where we go from here. What I do know is that I like you. I like you a lot. I just want to get to know you more and more like we have these past few days."

"I want the same, Lance. I have been on cloud nine ever since you, uh, er, JAMES called me a few nights ago. Even before I knew you were Lance, I was still attracted to the person on the phone. Now that I have gotten to know you and see you in person, I can't stop thinking about you."

"That's what drives me crazy about you, Billy! You don't seem to care about the fact that I'm in N'Sync. All you see is me. You like me for me! I can't say I've ever had that happen before. You make me so happy." At that moment, I didn't care what I had to do, I wanted to be close to Lance. I got up quickly, sat next to him, and pulled him into an embrace. Unfortunately, we were a bit off balance, and we fell sideways on the couch from our sitting position. Neither of us noticed. We held that embrace, rubbing each other's shoulders and backs with our hands. I had never been in such a peaceful state. If this is what it felt like to find that 'special someone', then I wasn't going to leave him for anything!

We broke the embrace and Lance sat up, mischievously saying,

"I think you have something coming to you, and I'm going to give it to you!" Half excited and half scared about what it might be, Lance dragged me gently to my knees helped me lay down on my front. Seconds later I felt a pressure on my butt as Lance sat down and started massaging my back. My eyes rolled back in my head as I enjoyed not only the contact with Lance but the relaxation of the massage. This continued for about 30 minutes. I was nearly asleep when I felt him climb off and lay down beside me. Turning over on my back, I looked at him and smiled. He smiled back and said,

"Thank you for being you."

"Well, not a lot of options there. It's who I am."

"You know what I mean! I'm so glad we met. You... complete me!" We both busted up at this pathetic attempt at romance. As soon as we calmed down, though, we began to stare at each other again. Feeling chills over my body, I knew it was happening again. I closed my eyes and felt Lance's lips make contact with mine. I savored just the contact with his perfect mouth. Lance slowly rolled over into a kneeling position, never breaking contact with my lips. I was in heaven and didn't think anything could be better. I was wrong.

Lance reached up with his hands and started rubbing them lightly on my upper chest, just below my neck. Waves of euphoria traveled through my body as I tightened my lip grip on his. As the pressure subsided, I felt Lance's tongue start to press on my lips. My lips did not part for him immediately, so his tongue danced around, moistening them. He begged entry once again, this time with success. I was totally at this guy's mercy as he began to lovingly and carefully probe my mouth with his oral member. I was in ecstasy simply being able to wrap my tongue around his and causing them to waltz together in my mouth. Again, the universe stood still, and I had no concept of time when our second kiss finally ended. Lance simply pulled back and opened his eyes, keeping my attention with that loving, piercing stare of his. He leaned in once more for a quick peck on the lips before standing up and walking out of the room.

"Wait? Where are..." Lance turned back and gently spoke,

"Shhhhhhh. I'll be right back." In half a minute, I started seeing lights turn off in the house as Lance walked back in to the living room with the pillows and blanket from my bed. I smiled at his intentions and looked forward to spending another night by his side.

"I have to work tomorrow." I muttered as Lance threw the pillows and blanket on the floor.

"I figured you would. That's why we're going to get some rest." Lance laid down next to me and put a pillow under his head, facing up. I pulled my pillow just a bit lower than his and scooted up next to him, facing down, so I could throw an arm over his chest and bury my face on his left side. I ran my hand over his chest a few times and said,

"Nice chest! Do you work out?" We both hooted for about a minute at this, remembering the situation that had brought us together. Lance pulled his other hand up and locked fingers with mine, squeezing gently.

Not another word was exchanged that night. Saying anything at all would have spoiled it. The day had started in utter chaos, but had ended in perfect peace. Talk about a twist of fate!

*That sure sounds like a fitting end to the story doesn't it? NOT. This bad boy is far from over. I'd love to hear any ideas, comments, or suggestions about plot progressions you may have. I love ya all! Until the next chapter...

~Jeff kaiser_goof@hotmail.com