Date: Tue, 03 Apr 2001 01:41:40 +1000 From: AK W <curly_and_josh@hotmail.com> Subject: curly_and_josh_9 Hi Guys and Girls, how is everybody? Sorry this chapter took so long to get here, I've been busy with work, uni and other crap, and the lovely Miss Dawn (my co-writer for this issue) has had a few problems of her own to deal with. I have to thank Dawn for helping me write this issue, she did an awesome job, and I love the end result, I hope you do too. The term "Grace under pressure" describes neither myself nor Dawn, as we both had "hissy fits" during the writing of this chapter, but it all worked out OK Miss Dawn, so thanks Sweetie. I have to thank Sarah for her letter (I'll get back to you soon my love), the sweet and sexy Erin, the temperamental and loveable Dawn, the newly "coupled" Dusty and Hunter, the wonderfully Lance obsessed Gabriella, the soccer playing Ashley, the enigmatic Casper and Nickolas, the short and sweet Rich, and everybody else who wrote to me since the last chapter. The next chapter will not take as long, I have lightened my workload considerably! Following recommendations: Secret Emotion -- Erin is wonderful and this story is fantastic. My Secret Romance -- Gab is a scream, Lance is sexy, and the story is engrossing. Not until you love me -- A relatively new story by Penelope, it's excellent and I love it too. Yellow -- It's dark, moody and I love it (some more regular updates would be nice though, mate!). Josh and just -- My first ever J&J story I ever read! Try walking in my shoes -- only because I wrote it and I'm a compulsive self-promoter. And a story I just began reading, but it's keeping me occupied, it's called Devotion and it's by Angel. Disclaimer: You know the drill, if you want to read stories about ponies prancing and playing in open fields, then Nifty probably wasn't the most appropriate place to come. If you found this site in the history on your computer, but have no idea how it got there, it's a fair bet that someone using the computer before you is a shirt-lifter, go and tell everybody that knows that person and really embarrass them, it'll be fun, but possibly destroy someone's life in the process, still sounds like fun to me! HE HE HE. I don't know NSYNC, if I did then I'd keep them locked in the basement and only let them out so that Lance, JC and Justin could...um...sing me to sleep (yeah right), Joey could clean my house and wash my car (in a pair of spandex shorts, just to get the neighbor's talking) and Chris, well...who needs Chris? Actually I do, he could stay up late and press record on the VCR because I still can't program the bastard thing! I guess the up-shot of this entire rambling is that none of the following events actually happened, IT'S NOT TRUE! Well if it is, then it hasn't been reported and I don't believe in conspiracies, except the one about everyone being out to get me! Enjoy! Love and Stuff, AKW. CHAPTER 9: TENDER AND TIRED. "You're so fragile tonight been up hurting all night it's not trivial like they think yes you're desperate and your hurt thought about it so many times too afraid to open your eyes to see the sadness that's inside just sit back and stop time..." Justin sang mournfully to himself. Singing was the only thing that had stopped him going insane with fear and guilt. Tears ran constantly down his cheeks as he prepared a fire and some shelter for himself and JC. "You're tender and you're tired you can't be bothered to decide whether you live or die or just forget about your life" Justin wasn't accustomed to taking on the role of the "strong one". He had had daydreams of JC looking after him for the rest of his life, but now here he was. Justin winced at the pain in his leg and thought back to the final moments before their vacation plans had been thrown into turmoil and their charter plane had crashed into the Caribbean sea... ******************************************************************************* JC had been standing in the aisle of the plane ready to head toward the cockpit, when a loud explosion had rocked the plane, and the cockpit door flew open with the force of an almighty wind behind it. JC had been thrown toward the rear of the plane with a sickening thud. Looking rearward Justin saw no sigh of him whatsoever. What he did see, however, was that the plane was flying low over the ocean, as though preparing to land on a nearby island, but still hurtling forward at flying speed. Sickening thoughts of the runaway jet of Payne Stuart dance through Justin's mind as he prepared to cry, or scream, or both. Then he heard the sickening sound of the plane skipping across the surface of the water, this threw him quickly into reality and he rushed into action. Ignoring the biting wind that attempted to blow him down, he headed toward the rear of the plane in search of JC. He found the handsome pop star sprawled on the floor between rows of seats, a large gash on this forehead bleeding profusely. At first Justin thought the unmoving man was dead, he was ready to give up, and lay down to take what was coming to him. No sooner had he had these thoughts and he noticed JC's chest rising and falling in a shallow breathing pattern. "Thank Christ for that!" Justin blasphemed, as he awkwardly picked the older man up in his arms and headed toward the emergency exit. As he filed between the seats, and stood at the emergency exit waiting for the inevitable sudden stop of the plane, the nose of the plane hit the water causing Justin to collide with the row of seats in front of him and nearly drop JC, as a wave of water flooded in through the broken cockpit windows. ****************************************************************************** Rubbing his ankle at the memory of the injury he sustained, he wondered how he had managed to hold onto JC and not drop him during the crash. He looked anxiously over his shoulder to where JC lay unconscious in the sun. It had been 3 days since the accident and after swimming to the shore of a near by island with JC under his arm, they had spent the past 3 freezing days under a rock overhang, waiting for the hurricane to blow over. Justin was cold, scared and hungry. He was afraid JC would not wake up. He did not know how they were going to get out of there. Justin was so used to JC always taking control in situations like this. He had not realized how much he depended on JC until now. Justin wanted to go look for something to eat, but knew he could not leave JC alone too long. He was afraid JC was dying. He kept telling himself that if JC died it would be his fault. If he would have been paying attention and not gotten in that damn accident they would never have been on the plane. He'd never forgive himself if JC died. Justin decided that singing worked earlier to help keep him calm, he'd try it again. Justin sang an old song that he remembered his mother used to play a lot. He always made fun of her old music, but for some reason this song always stuck in his head. If I could save time in a bottle The first thing that I'd like to do Is to save every day Till eternity passes away Just to spend them with you If I could make days last forever If words could make wishes come true I'd save every day like a treasure and then Again I would spend them with you But there never seems to be enough time To do the things you want to do, once you find them I've looked around enough to know That you're the one I want to go through time with If I had a box just for wishes And dreams that would never come true The box would be empty Except for the memory of how They were answered by you But there never seems to be enough time To do the things you want to do, once you find them I've looked around enough to know That you're the one I want to go through time with Justin's singing faded as the wind carried his voice. That song brought him so many memories of his mother when he was young. The words said exactly how he felt about the time he spent with JC. He just prayed that there would be more time spent with JC, conscious and talking. Justin crept to the edge of the overhang to see if it looked as if the weather would stay clear long enough to leave JC to look for food and shelter, he knew that they would both die if they didn't have food and water soon. JC needed a doctor. Justin hated feeling so helpless. He knew he needed to stay strong for JC. JC always took care of him, now it's his turn to take care of JC. Justin kneeled beside JC, lightly touching his forehead, checking for fever. He had already checked at least a dozen times in the last half hour, but he did not know what else to do. He wished it was just a fever, that he knew how to handle. The gash on his forehead had stopped bleeding, but still looked dark and nasty. Justin couldn't tell if it was infected, nor could he tell what sort of internal damage the older man had suffered. "Come on Josh, please wake up. I'm going crazy sitting here talking to myself. Do you want me to sing some more? Maybe that's the problem, these songs are too soothing. Ok, if you don't wake up right now, I'm going to start singing the most annoying songs that I can think of. I don't care if you wake up just to tell me to shut the hell up, just please wake up." Justin began to sing a song from a children's show that he knew JC hated. He just hoped maybe he'd get some kind of reaction out of the unconscious man. I love you You love me We're a happy family With a great big hug And a kiss from me to you Won't you say you love me too? I love you You love me We're best friends Like friends should be With a great big hug And a kiss from me to you Won't you say you love me too? "Come on Josh, I know you hate that song. Just open your eyes and tell me to shut up. Please Josh. You're forcing me to bring out the big guns here. Come on Josh that means that stupid Lamb Chop song. Ok fine here it goes." This is the song that never ends Yes it goes on and on my friend Somebody started singing it not knowing what it was And they're forever singing it because This is the song that never ends Yes it goes on and on my friend Somebody started singing it not knowing what it was And they're forever singing it because Justin turned to look at JC after finishing the song. "Of course that didn't work Timberlake, don't be so bloody stupid." He chastised himself, laughing sardonically. A little while later Justin had decided, after looking around, that their current location was the most suitable. It provided protection from the elements, a view of any incoming boats, and above all he wouldn't have to move JC and risk more internal damage. So he had gathered enough dry firewood to keep a fire burning through the night, he had also managed to use a sharp stick to spear fish to eat. He was extraordinarily proud of that effort, a trick he had learned from movies and TV. His ego soon deflated however, when he looked at the comatose pop star fading away by the fire, his head propped on Justin's sweater. "I'm so sorry Josh...I...I" he began to cry "Don't you dare Timberlake, you caused this now you have to make it better, blubbering like a 3 year old isn't going to help. Josh won't come to rescue you this time, you'll have to do it by yourself." He warned himself. As he began to prepare the fish for cooking, a skill he had picked up from his father Randall as a child, he began to think about JC again. "If he doesn't wake up and eat, he's gonna die. I have to make him wake up." He felt himself getting upset again and felt as though it was a betrayal to JC to feel sorry for himself, when he had caused the entire thing. He couldn't help it however, and after placing the fish over the hot coals of the fire, he lay down next to JC, and began gently stroking his head, tears streaming down his face. He whispered the words to a song he had heard while on tour somewhere: "If I could paint, I'd paint a portrait of you The sunlight in your eyes a masterpiece of truth In a single tear like a silent prayer that's shining so much brighter than a diamond ever did If I could do anything at all, I'd do it for you If I could write, I'd write a book for you A tale of hidden treasures with an IOU But a million words wouldn't say a thing That won't be said in 3 words where loves the central thing If I could do anything at all, I'd do it for you Darling can't you see, what you mean to me Anything I could do, I'd do it for you Darling don't you know, just how far I'd go Anything I could do, I'd do it for you Sometimes I feel so second rate Seems loving you was my greatest mistake I know I'm insecure And love don't keep score But I wish I could give you more If I could play, I'd play up a storm for you A raging sea of passion, that you never knew... He trailed off, hit but the words he had just whispered to JC. "Oh God, I'm pathetic, if only I'd told you how I felt Josh, I'm stupid. I love you, what's so hard to say?" ****************************************************************************** TBC... What did you think? Love it? Hate it? Let me know Curly_and_josh@hotmail.com I love to hear from everyone, I'd also love to give you Dawns address, but as she also writes slash under a different name, her email address will be too much of a give away. Apparently she got a bit upset that I told the entire world (well Nifty readers anyway) that she has naked NSYNC fakes, so if I give her address she will be inundated with emails asking for them. Oops, my bad. Oh yeah, we used heaps of songs that we didn't write, never claimed to, never will! Songs are all great and they remain the property of lecherous record companies all over the world! Until next issue, take care, Love and Stuff, AKW.