Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 00:54:53 -0400
From: Rachel <rel24@drexel.edu>
Subject: Choices 3 and 4

Hey everybody! Sorry this took so long. So shoot me or something. I'm in
college. Plus I had to get those chapters of Escape done. Ah well. I hope you
enjoy this.

Disclaimer: Fiction..blah blah blah..underage..blah blah blah..you know the
deal


Choices

Chapter 3

	"What is she doing here?" Justin's eyes bugged out when he saw Britney
sitting in a chair next to Kevin.

	Kevin jumped up, put his arm around Justin's shoulder and guided him to
the other side of the room.

	"We tried to get her off the tour Justin. We really did. She is
contractually obligated to stay on the tour at least through Europe. I thought
Lance told you already."

	Justin squeezed his eyes shut, trying to force the hate he was feeling
deep down inside. This just wasn't fair. Lance had promised that he wouldn't
have to tour with her.

	Britney stood up, walking over to Justin with a fake smile on her face.

	"Just-bear?" Her voice dripped honey. She tried to touch his shoulder, but
he jerked it away.

	"Don't touch me, don't talk to me, and don't even look at me."

	Justin glared at her. Britney just smiled back at him, angering him even
more.

	Justin stalked away from Britney, his body language accurately informing
all present how mad he really was.

	JC watched his former best friend walk away from his former fianc‚e. If JC
had been uneasy about touring before, he was dreading it now. Joey sat down next
to him. JC turned to look at him.

	"Well this is an onion in the ointment." Joey whispered to him in his best
Grampa Simpson voice. JC chuckled despite himself. No matter what was going on,
Joey could always make him laugh.

	"Should someone go talk to Justin?" JC whispered back. Joey shrugged.
Before either of them could do anything, Nick had walked over to Justin.

	"It's moments like this that you can truly understand why people drink."

	Justin nodded mutely.

	"Don't worry about Bitch-ney Justin. We couldn't get her off the first
part of the tour, but Brian and Lance argued very persuasively that she be
isolated from the rest of us, especially you. Plus she isn't allowed to do any
promotion for the tour with us or by herself either. A gag has been placed on
her regarding the tour, your relationship, and the break-up. She's harmless
now."

	"Nick, I can't tour with her. I ended it really, really badly. I know
Britney. Those restrictions aren't going to stop her. She's going to do
something to make me pay."

	"Maybe she won't Justin. Maybe she'll realize that it's over."

	Justin looked Nick in the eye.

	"Two words for you Nick. Kelly Bale."

	Nick shuddered slightly. How could he have forgotten that? Kelly had been
a singer along the same line as Britney, but much, much better. Britney had
destroyed her career before she even had a chance to fight back. Kelly was still
recovering from the physical beating she had gotten at Britney's hand as well.
Somehow Britney hadn't been charged and her reputation hadn't been destroyed. To
this day, she still maintained her innocence. Most people knew better. Britney
was hell to tangle with.

	Nick put his arm around Justin to comfort him.

	"Want me to get the Manson family to kick her ass?"

	Justin began to laugh at Nick's suggestion, despite how anger he was. He
threw his arms around Nick and gave him a big hug.

	"Thanks Nick."

	"No problem."

	Brian clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. He still wasn't used
to this being in charge thing, so he had Lance with him.

	"Okay, we are here today to talk to Fatima about choreography and also to
decide which songs each of the groups will be doing on the tour."

	"As Brian mentioned we are picking songs for the tour. The label has sent
us specific instructions on what songs are eligible and which are not. At least
five songs off the BSB's new album must be done and at least six off of our new
album must be done. Britney, since you haven't done a new album in a year, you
have to pick old stuff. They want you to cover two songs as well. Any
questions?"

	No one answered him, so Lance assumed that everything was clear.

	"Okay then. Now we split up. Britney, you are with Fatima first since your
choreography is the easiest. BSB and 'Nsync are in here working on the songs.
BSB this end of the room, 'Nsync far end of the room. Okay everyone move."

	JC and Joey stood up and walked to the other end of the room. Justin was
already there. Lance was still talking to Brian about something. They heard a
loud 'whoop' and turned to see Chris climbing over the furniture instead of
walking on the floor. He laughed and jumped on Joey's back.

	"Off! What are you trying to do kill me?"

	Chris slid off Joey's back and grinned.

	"If you die, I get all your close-ups and all your parts. It's a good deal
for me."

	"Yeah, but then you have to shave your head, 'cause you gotta look like me
too!"

	"Nah, I think the 2Pac look is out Joey. Try growing some hair
again. Oh wait I forgot! You're bald!"

	Joey grabbed Chris and began to tickle him. Lance came up behind them and
cleared his throat.

	"Look, the sooner we get this stuff done, the sooner we are out of here
okay."

	"Yeah we know the drill Scoop."

	They all sat around the table set out for them. Joey picked up a pencil
and grabbed a sheet of paper.

	"So we are doing this the usual way right?"

	"Yup."

	They each grabbed their own pieces of paper and began to write. The
easiest way to figure out the songs to do was to have each of them write what
songs they wanted to do, then compare notes. It usually went pretty well unless
someone(usually Joey) picked a totally off-the-wall song. He usually tried to
throw in a cover of something bizarre. Last tour he wanted to do a cover of
Powerman 5000's song When Worlds Collide. He thought it would be a nice change
of pace. He was shot down immediately by everyone but Justin who thought it
would be cool too.

	JC peeked at Lance's paper. He wanted to see if Lance had written down
Magic. It was a duet the two of them had done on the last tour. JC had loved it
and wanted to do it again. He was discouraged when he saw it wasn't on Lance's
paper, but he wrote it down anyway.

	Soon enough they were finished. Lance gathered up the papers and handed
them to Jean-Michel, who had shown up a few minutes earlier. As one of his
personal assistant duties, he got to tabulate the votes.

	"So what did Nick say to make you laugh so much Justin?" Chris asked.

	"He said he would get the Manson family to kick her ass if I wanted. I
guess it's nice to know someone's got scary friends. Or in his case, scary in-
laws."

	Chris began to laugh.

	"That's a great image. Marilyn Manson ripping Britney's hair out! I would
pay to see that one."

	Justin smiled a little.

	"Maybe I'll take him up on the offer if things get too crazy. I'm not very
sure how well things are going to go while we are on tour together."

	JC crossed his arms and shut his eyes. He was very sleepy. He hadn't told
anyone that he had ended up at an old boyfriend's house last night. JC wasn't
proud of what he had done last night, but he had wanted it and so had Adam.

	"You look tired JC. Long night?" Lance asked him innocently. He knew that
JC had gotten laid last night. Lance could always tell when JC got laid. He was
always much more relaxed.

	"No, just a little tired. That's all."

	"Who was it?"

	JC opened one eye and looked at Lance.

	"Adam."

	Lance sighed and looked down at the table. He hated Adam with a passion
for the way he tended to use Josh.

	"Why Adam?"

	"Lance, I don't want to hear a lecture about who I fuck."

	"I wasn't going to lecture you Josh. I was just asking why you ended up in
Adam's arms instead of someone else's."

	JC looked back at him, glaring angrily.

	"Because when I called Adam up he answered the phone, unlike some other
people I know and tried to call. I was really lonely last night James okay.
That's why I ended up fucking him!"

	Chris, Justin, and Joey stared at JC as he finished his speech. By the
time he was done he had almost been yelling. JC looked over at the three of them
and began to blush fiercely.

	JC was angry, very angry at Lance. He could feel his anger rise. He tried
to control it when he saw how guilty Lance looked. Part of JC knew that Lance
was not trying to hurt him and he really didn't mean to make him mad. But the
rest of JC was fuming.

	"Thanks so much Lance. I really wanted my sex life broadcasted to everyone
at the table." He hissed at him, his voice full of anger and spite.

	The tension was obvious to everyone in the room. JC could see the guys in
the Backstreet Boys looking over at them. Nick said something to Brian who just
shook his head while looking at JC.

	"It's cool JC. You know we don't give a crap what you do in your free
time."

	Joey did his best to make JC feel at least a little less embarrassed.
Tears formed in JC's eyes.

	"Maybe I need you to care Joey."

	JC pushed away from the table and left the room with tears streaming down
his face. Joey looked at Chris confused.

	"What did I say?"

	Chris slowly got up to follow JC, knowing that he needed him right now.
Chris had always been JC's confidant in the past few years. He was used to
picking up the pieces of JC's heart.

	"Wait Chris. I'll talk to him." Joey stood up.

	Chris nodded and sat back down. Joey's training in this area often made
him an invaluable asset to the group when things got rough. Joey headed down the
hall in the direction he saw JC head.

	"Hey Josh."

	Joey sat down next to JC. He had found him sitting on the ground down the
hall, crying. Joey out his arm around him, pulling JC to his shoulder, holding
him as he cried.

	JC cried on Joey's shoulder, letting the pain and frustration he was
feeling out.

	"I feel so dirty Joey."

	Joey rubbed his back.

	"You aren't dirty Josh. You just made a mistake that's all. We all make
mistakes sometime."

	"You don't understand Joey. I fucked him! I fucked my ex-boyfriend because
I was feeling lonely. I didn't want you guys to know how pathetic I was."

	Joey hugged him closer.

	"It's okay Josh. It's not the end of the world."

	"Last night wasn't the first time Joey. I've done that before."

	The pain in JC's voice made Joey's heart ache.When had they lost track of
JC and let him drift to this point? What kind of friends were they?

	"Joshua, I want you to look at me." Joey lifted JC's head, making him look
into his eyes.

	"I've let you go in the past months. I've stopped being the friend you
needed in your life. From now on I want you to lean on me. Nothing is more
important to me then your happiness. I can't stand to see you like this
anymore."

	JC pushed himself away from Joey and looked at him in disbelief. What the
hell was he doing? He didn't need Joey's help. He didn't need anyone's help. He
was doing just fine on his own.

	"Joey I don't need your help." JC started to stand up to walk away from
yet another uncomfortable conversation.

	Joey grabbed JC's hands, pulling him back down and holding him tightly so
he couldn't get away.

	"Yes you do Josh. You know you need some help with this. Let us help you."

	JC's struggled against Joey's firm grip.

	"Let me go Joseph!"

	With a sigh Joey released JC's hands, allowing him to escape. Before he
had taken off, Joey called after him.

	"Don't forget we still have work to do."

	JC stopped and turned to Joey. He nodded slowly.

	"I'll be back in a few minutes. I promise."

	Joey nodded and watched him walk away. Joey had barely gotten the chance
to delve into JC's problems before he had run away. This was going to be very
tough. Maybe he wasn't qualified enough for this. He shook his head and stood
up. Joey needed the other three guys to help here. JC couldn't fight this
depression and self-loathing alone. And it would only get worse while they were
touring. Joey knew that from personal experience.

	JC stalked down the hall, his mind racing. What was he doing? And why did
he sleep with Adam last night?

	JC slid down the wall, ending up on the ground again, hugging his knees to
his chest. He thought back to the night before.



	JC stared at the TV. Nothing was catching his interest, which left him
ample time to dwell on the fact he was lonely. He looked around his empty house
and sighed. He had to get out of here.

	Ten minutes later, he was almost in tears. No one was around. Barely
thinking, he dialed one last number.

	"Hello?"

	JC could barely speak.

	"Adam?"

	"Josh?"

	"Yeah, hi."

	"Hi Josh. What's up?" Adam sounded slightly confused. JC never called him
anymore.

	"Are you busy tonight?" JC choked out. Anything so he wasn't alone.
Anything. Anything.

	"Not really. Did you want to do something?"

	"How about I pick up a movie and some Chinese take-out and head over to
your place? We can veg and just relax."

	"Sure. You know what food I like. I'll see you soon."

	JC hung up the phone, knowing that he had just made a big mistake. Pushing
that thought back, he decided to just have fun tonight. Adam was always a lot of
fun to spend time with. He would just focus on that.

	The story always ended the same. JC saw images of him and Adam naked in
bed together. Rolling around, hugging each other, kissing passionatly. JC looked
down at the two of them, seeing a dead man having sex. He looked into his own
eyes and saw nothing. He knew that his mind had regressed to a point where he
couldn't allow himself to feel guilty for what he was doing. Part of him enjoyed
the sex, but the rest of him felt guilty.

	Then the sex was over. JC pushed Adam away from him, feeling dirty. Adam
sat up and took out a cigarette.

	"Judging by your reaction, you don't want to go again."

	JC shook his head, hugging his knees to his chest.

	"Okay. Go home now. We're done here."

	JC looked at the man he had just had sex with. Adam's face was distorted
by the cigarette smoke floating over it. He looked ugly. JC saw nothing
redeemable about his face. In fact, JC never wanted to see his face again.

	Adam grinned at JC as he gathered up his clothes from the ground.

	"See you next time you want to get laid Josh."

	JC looked back at him one more time and left the room.



	He blinked rapidly to clear the tears from his eyes. He had momentarily
forgotten where he was. Looking up, he saw Britney looking down at him with a
smug look on her face.

	"Aww....is poor little JC upset? Tell Momma Britney what's wrong."

	"Leave me alone Britney." He mumbled.

	Ignoring him, she sat down next to him.

	"We used to be friends JC. What happened?"

	He turned to her, unable to belive that she even had to ask the question.

	"You fucked with my best friend almost completely destroying our
friendship as well as his friendship with everyone else."

	Britney began to laugh at him.

	"Honey, Justin made his own choices. I was just there to push him one way
or the other. I'm not the only one at fault here. So don't just blame me for
your fucked up relationship with Justin. That rests squarely on you."

	With that she stood back up.

	"Goodbye JC. See you in Europe."

	Britney turned away, sauntering down the hall, quite pleased with herself.
Suddenly JC had this insane urge to throw something at her. Unfortunatly he
didn't have anything on hand.

	Screw her. JC had let their friendship go a long time ago. Even as far
back as MMC, JC had known she was a manipulative bitch. He just couldn't
convince Justin of that. Apparently Justin had figured that out on his own.

	JC was proud of Justin for what he had done. Granted he had done it badly,
but he had done it nonetheless. JC had never broken up with anyone. Everyone
dumped him so he could actually relate to how Britney was feeling better then he
could Justin.

	He looked at his watch. Jean-Michel would be done with the songs by now.
He should go back.

	"All right. Let me start off by saying no Joey we will not be covering
Starfuckers Inc. by Nine Inch Nails. Sorry." Lance grinned at him.

	Joey grinned back and shrugged.

	"It was worth a shot. What are we covering?"

	"Nothing as of now. We all wanted something different, so we have to talk
about that later."

	JC slid back into his chair next to Lance. Lance gave him a little smile
then continued on.

	"Here's the list of what we are doing. I'll read it, but of course
everyone will get their own copies later. Tearing up my Heart, God must have
spent, Music of my Heart, Kiss me, Sailing, Calling Heaven, Part of Me, Becoming
Whole, Tomorrow, Rock 'n' Roll, Magic, Playtime, and finally Charade. Any
questions?"

	JC raised his hand.

	"I hate Charade."

	Lance sighed.

	"That wasn't a question. And you know the rules by now. Majority wins. We
sing what was picked, so we sing what we don't like sometimes."

	JC crossed his arms. Who had picked Charade? That was a terrible song that
he wrote when he was extremely depressed. Granted it was one of their biggest
hits, but he could barely bring himself to sing it anymore. It just hurt too
much.

	"So that's it for the song part. Once Britney is done with Fatima, we are
up. The Boys have to do some work on the last song on the album so they are cool
with us going first."

	"Britney's done. I saw her in the hall." JC mumbled to himself almost.

	"What was that Josh?" Lance's keen hearing had picked up JC's mumble.

	"I said she's done. I ran into her outside."

	"Oh okay. Great. Let's go have our fun chat with Fatima. I'm sure she's
got some really fun stuff planned this tour."

	They all groaned at the thought, but got up anyway.




Chapter 4



	"This is stupid!" JC whined as Justin sat him down in the chair.

	"Yeah, but it's fun. Trust me. You'll love being a blond."

	Somehow Justin had talked JC into dying his hair. He had always sworn that
his hair color would never change. Of course he had sworn for years he would
never get a tattoo, but Justin had managed to convince him to do that as well.
He glanced down at the chinese symbol for peace on his forearm.

	Justin put a towel over JC's clothes and began to pour the bleach over his
head.

	"Ow! That burns Curly!"

	"Yeah it will. Just sit back and relax. The burning means it's working."

	JC closed his eyes and let Justin go to work. He loved when someone ran
their fingers through his hair. Justin was really good at it too. If he didn't
stop soon, JC would be drooling soon.

	"Josh, do you ever wonder what it would be like to not be famous, to just
be a normal person?"

	"We are normal Justin. We just have a bizarre job. But yeah, I wonder what
I would have done if I wasn't a performer."

	"Did you ever want to go to college Josh?"

	"It's going to sound stupid, but I always wanted to be a teacher."

	Justin leaned over JC's shoulder and looked in the mirror. Staring back at
him was JC with the bleach all over his hair and his own face right next to it.
They were both smiling.

	"I don't think that's stupid Josh. I wanted to go to school to be an
architect."

	"Why don't you Justin?"

	Justin shrugged as he checked JC's roots.

	"I guess I could. I like what I am doing now though. I like performing and
making music. It makes me feel good."

	"It used to make me feel like that. The last few years have been tough. I
don't have the enthusiasm I used to have."

	Justin climbed onto the counter and sat looking at JC.

	"Do you still want to be in 'Nsync Josh?"

	JC shrugged.

	"Somedays I can't wait to get out of bed and be JC. The rest of the days I
just want to stay in bed and hide as Josh. I'm going to be here at least for
this tour. After that, I don't know."




	Chris leaned over and handed Kira a bottle. She grabbed at it and began to
immediatly drink. Haley was already drinking her bottle happily.

	"Have you decided what is going to happen when the tour starts?"

	Howie rocked Luna slowly as he fed her. He watched Chris take care of his
kids.

	"Not really. Danielle works during the day so we need someone here with
the girls. I take care of them during the day now, but once I leave I guess
we'll hire a nanny. Have you and Ameena decided?"

	Howie shook his head.

	"I don't want to leave them. Ameena was supposed to sign on for this tour
again as a lighting specialist, but with Luna here, she's not going to do that.
Neither of us want to put the stress of touring on an infant, especially since
she is still on oxygen at night."

	"How long is Luna going to be on the vent?"

	"She's not on a vent anymore. Now she uses oxygen in the nose plugs. I
forget what they are called. You know what I mean though."

	Chris nodded and reached over to help Kira with her bottle. Haley had no
problems drinking on her own, but Kira still had some problems. He pulled her
onto his lap and helped to hold it for her.

	"I don't know if I would have been able to handle one of the girls being
born with so many problems."

	"Ameena and I adjusted very, very quickly. We had to. Besides there are
children born with many more problems then Luna has. Luna's are all related to
her being so premature. Once she gets older and gains more weight her problems
will get better."

	Howie looked down at his tiny daughter. Her eyes were closed, but she was
still drinking steadily. Howie was glad about that. Often they had problems
getting her to eat enough.

	"Chris, when you found out Danielle was pregnant did you think about your
career?"

	"Yeah I did. I'm ashamed that I did, but I did. I thought it would ruin my
chances to tour again. But right away I realized that it didn't matter. Danielle
was having my child. I was going to be a father."

	"I was afraid when Ameena told me. I wasn't ready to be a father. I didn't
really want to be a father. I was scared up until the day she was born. The
moment I saw her I knew everything was going to be fine."

	Chris took Haley's empty bottle and lifted her up to burp her. Kira
watched happily as her father swung her sister over her to be burped.

	"Did Josh tell you what was wrong yet?"

	Chris looked over at Howie quickly.

	"How did you know something was wrong with Josh?"

	"I'm not blind Chris. Everytime I've seen Josh, he has been more and more
depressed. It's only going to get worse once the tour begins. You know how bad
Joey was the last time you guys toured."

	Chris nodded tickling Haley with one hand while still holding Kira's
bottle with the other. He looked up at Howie.

	"We don't know what to do. He won't talk to any of us."





	"Justin can we please take this off? It's really burning."

	Justin hopped off the counter and checked JC's roots again. They were
still a little dark.

	"If we wash it out now, we will have to do it again to get the roots
lighter."

	"Fine! Just get it off now!"

	Justin guided JC over to the sink and stuck his head underneath. As soon
as the water hit his head, JC breathed a sigh of relief.

	"Holy crap! You are really blond Josh!"

	"Let me see!"

	Justin held him down.

	"Not yet. You'll get bleach in your eyes. I haven't washed it all out
yet."

	"What do you think the other guys are going to say when they see this?"

	Justin shrugged.

	"Probably something along the lines of 'HOLY SHIT JC!!! WHAT HAVE YOU
DONE!!!' At least that's my guess."

	JC laughed.

	"I'm thinking your right. Wonder what my mom will say when she sees it?"

	"Probably the same thing she said when she saw the tattoo. 'Oh my Joshua.
I guess you really are becoming a rock star.' Your mom is so cute Josh."

	"I'll be sure to tell her you think she is cute Justin."

	JC smiled as Justin washed his hair. He had missed spending time with
Justin doing stupid stuff. He felt better already just because he had Justin
around.

	Justin turned the water off and began to dry JC's hair. He ignored the
fact that JC was sitting half-naked in front of him. Justin had seen JC naked
before, so this wasn't that uncomfortable for him.

	"What are you thinking about Justin?"

	"Nothing really. You ready to start rehearsing for the tour?"

	"Not really. I haven't been keeping up with my exercise schedule. Fatima
is going to know right away and murder me."

	"Don't worry about it Josh. You're such a good dancer it won't matter."

	"Thanks Justin. Can I see yet?"

	"Yup." He took the towel off JC's head and turned him towards the mirror.

	JC stared at the blond guy in the mirror. He reached up and touched his
hair in disbelief. He was sooo blond.

	"Oh my gosh Justin. Look at me."

	"I think you look great." He leaned over and planted a kiss on Josh's
cheek.

	"I really like it. I should have done this a long time ago."

	"Want to go get a beer or something? I got some in the fridge."

	JC nodded slowly still looking at his reflection.

	"Come on. We'll go chill out back by the pool."

	Justin grabbed two beers out of the fridge and they headed out back.

	"You going to be okay with Britney around Curly?"

	Justin groaned at the thought.

	"I doubt it. Do you know how much it hurts when you realize that you have
wasted the past few years of your life on someone? Waking up one morning I
rolled over and looked at Brit. She looked so evil while she slept. It was
really scary. I began to think back to what my life had been like for the past
few days at first. She made me hang up on Chris. She completely occupied all my
time and told me exactly what I had to do. Then I thought back even further and
I realized that I had lost all contact with the people I cared about most. I
mean I still hung out with you guys and got to see you, but I wasn't your friend
anymore. I don't know who I was. I have to find out who I am."

	JC looked at his friend. Justin had grown up a lot while with Britney. He
had to. She was immature enough for both of them.

	"I wish I could have come to that decision earlier, but at least I did
it."

	"I missed you a lot Justin."

	Justin pulled JC into a hug. He held onto him tightly.

	"I've missed you a lot too Josh. Tell me how you are doing."

	JC pulled back. He took a long drag of his beer.

	"I'm lonely Justin. I feel like the fifth wheel. Everyone else is happy
and in a relationship. Well until you broke it off with Britney."

	"Josh, have you tried to make a relationship work? Don't get mad at me
okay. I've just noticed that the problems that occur in your relationships are
usually because of you."

	"I know that Justin. I just don't know how to make a relationship work. I
wish I could make one work. How did you make yours work for so long?"

	"Oh Josh, I'm not the one to ask about that. Chris is probably the best to
talk to about how to make relationships work since he had been with Danielle for
so long."

	"I've talked to Chris about that. I love Chris dearly, but he doesn't seem
to understand what I am talking about when I say I push people away. I can't get
close to someone."

	"Not to be blunt again, but why would I?"

	JC shrugged.

	"I don't know. We just always seemed to be able to talk to each other. I
guess I shouldn't have assumed you would understand."

	"Hey wait up. Don't get all defensive. I was just asking."

	"Maybe we should just talk later okay Justin."







	Chris picked up Kira and walked her upstairs to her crib. He and Howie had
been talking for an hour about JC. Haley was asleep downstairs on the couch.
Luna was asleep in her carrier.

	Chris placed her in bed and gave her a little kiss on the cheek. He loved
his daughters so much. Leaving them to go on tour was going to hurt so much.

	"Chris, the phone is ringing!"

	Chris hauled ass into his bedroom and picked up the phone.

	"Hello?"

	"Chris, it's me."

	"Hey Justin, how did the bonding with JC go? Did he open up to you?"

	"He started to, but then he closed up really quick. We need to get him to
a therapist soon. This is bad Chris."

	"As bad as Joey?"

	"This could end up being worse. Joey's had to do with school and the tour
pressures on top of that. Josh's has to do with his self-confidence and his
relationships."

	"Okay. I'll call one of my old professors and see what he says."

	"Joey said he was going to do that as well, so hopefully we will get Josh
some help soon."

	"Has Lance said anything to you about what happened the day he and JC hung
out a few weeks ago?"

	"Chris, I haven't talked to Lance in so long. I see him whenever we get
together as a group. That's about it."

	"Yeah, it's kind of tough to get in touch with Lance sometimes. I talked
to Jean-Michel the other day though. Thankfully he is easy to talk to and he
doesn't feel like he should hide things from us."

	"I just wish that he wasn't around all the time. Though he is a good
assistant to all of us, not just Lance."

	"Okay, Justin can I call you back? Howie is downstairs. We both have our
kids today and we are doing the bonding/father thing."

	"Oh, yeah sure. I think Josh is done in the shower anyway. Wait until you
see what we did today."

	"Uh oh. That doesn't sound good."

	"You'll like it. Trust me."

	"Talk to you later Curly."

	"Bye Daddy Chris."





	Lance scratched the back of Adam's ear as he stared into space. What had
happened in the past few weeks that had isolated him so much? Ever since Justin
had broken up with Britney, suddenly Lance was left out. He looked at his watch.
There was no one to call to talk to. Well, except for his mother. Their
conversations had gotten better, but at some point she always began to pray for
his soul since he was such a sinner.

	Lance got up and stared out the window. He watched from the window as cars
went by on the road. He became mesmerized, staring at the moving traffic. He
kind of liked being alone like this.

	Lance touched the windowpane. His hand pressed against the glass as if he
were trapped. That was how Jean-Michel found him an hour later, looking like he
needed to escape.


---Sorry this took so long. I've been trying to get so much stuff done the past
few weeks. School is nutso! Expect lotso delays in the next few weeks. Until I
get done this semester, it's going to be slow going with the stories. E-mail me
with comments okay!---