Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2000 23:14:52 +0000
From: Angel1313@att.net
Subject: Devotion Ch. 1

Devotion
Chapter One:
Fighting Words

disclamier: Um, I don't know *NSYNC, I don't know the sexuality of anyone
in *NSYNC, well...you know the deal. If you're a homophobe, why are you in
Nifty? If you'd like to give me feedback, then please, drop me a line!
Thanks ^_^ -Angel1313
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter One:
Fighting Words

	"What are you talking about, JC?" Joey asked, rolling his eyes in
annoyance.
	"Look, all I'm saying is that there's no need for us to have
scantly-clad female dancers hanging all over us," JC defended himself.
	"Well all I'm saying is that if you want to be gay, that's cool,
but you don't need to drag the rest of us down with you," Joey acidly
replied.
	No one in the small dance studio dared to move; the room was frozen
in a tense silence. JC himself was speechless. His mouth hung slightly open
as he tried to think of a response to Joey's hateful comment.
	Before JC could say anything, Justin stepped in. He had been
standing off to the side, listening in to the conversation between his two
bandmates, along with Lance, Chris, and Darren, the choreographer for their
upcoming performance at the Video Music Awards. "That was totally uncalled
for, Joey," he spat at the older man. "How could you even think of saying
that to JC?! `Dragging us down'?! Just what the fuck were you thinking?" he
repeated.
	Joey was taken aback by the sheer anger that he felt and heard
coming from Justin. "I'm sorry," Joey mumbled, wanting to get out of the
situation as quickly as he could. "I was just angry; I wasn't thinking."
	"Damn straight, you weren't thinking! I oughtta-" Justin was
clenching and unclenching his fists as he spoke. His hands were shaking
slightly from the rage he felt building up inside of him.
	Lance glanced at Chris and Darren nervously. Chris' eyes were
saucers, and Darren looked about ready to bolt. None of them had ever seen
Justin so angry, not even when Chris had spilled grape juice on his
favorite Noth Carolina shirt.
	Lance's attention returned to Justin as the young man took a step
foreword, placing himself between Joey and JC. As Justin folded his arms
across his chest, Lance breathed a small sigh of relief. At least he wasn't
going to punch him.
	"Listen, Joey," Justin began again, his voice low and even. "If I
ever hear you making any kind of comments that upset JC again, so help me
God, I will personally hunt you down and-"
	"Justin," JC gently interrupted his friend, placing a hand lightly
on his shouder. Justin winced inwardly at how quiet and tired JC's voice
sounded. "It's okay."
	Justin quickly spun around to face his friend. They looked at each
other for a moment before Justin pulled the older man into a tight
hug. "No, it's not okay," he whispered. JC just squeezed his eyes tightly
shut. "I can't stand to see you hurt, Josh," Justin continued. "I can't
stand to-"
	"Shh," JC soothed his friend, rubbing his back gently. "It's all
right, Just. I know you care about me, I know you do. This just isn't the
time to be getting upset over something so trivial."
	"Trivial?!" Justin repeated, pulling back from JC enough to look
into his clear blue eyes. "How can you say that?"
	"Just-" JC began, but Justin stopped him.
	"No! No. Josh, I refuse for you to let people do this to you. How
can you say this is trivial?"
	"I'm sorry, I-" JC began, but Justin stopped him again.
	"No," he said, pulling the older man into an embrace once
more. "I'm sorry. I just-I just don't want you to think that you're not
worth the fuss, that you're not worth getting upset over." JC held him
tighter. "You're worth much more than this, Josh. I just want you to know
that no matter how many stupid jerks-" Joey winced "-you come into contact
with, I'll always be here for you. You have a right to be angry about this,
and I think that I do, too, as someone who loves you and who would do
anything for you, Josh-" JC tenderly wiped away a tear that had found its
way down Justin's face. "-just to make you happy," Justin finished.
	JC smiled at him. It was a small smile, but it was
genuine. "Thanks, Just," he whispered. "You're the best. I don't know what
I'd do without you." He gave the younger man another hug before turning to
everyone else. "I'm, um, going to take a quick break, if that's all right
with you all."
	"Y-yeah, uh...sure. Um, t-take fifteen everybody," Darren
stuttered.
	JC smiled weakly at him before exiting the room.
	Justin watched him leave before he quickly turned away and rubbed
at his eyes furiously. Joey walked over to him cautiously. He lifted a hand
to place it on Justin's shoulder, but decided against it and just slipped
his hands into his pockets. "Justin," he began, but the blonde spun around
angrily.
	"Don't even speak to me, Joey!" he shouted. "I can't believe that
you said that to him. What were you thinking?"
	"I wasn't thinking, remember? Look, I made a mistake. A huge
mistake-"
	"But there's nothing that he can do about it now," Lance added,
walking over. He knew that this had to fixed, and quickly, before anyone
did any permanent damage. "Look Justin," he continued. "I know that you're
probably going to be angry with Joey for a little while, but think about
it. It was just something that Joey said in the heat of the moment. You've
been there. You've said things that you regret."
	"Yeah," Chris added. "Joey already looks like shit; let's not make
him feel like shit, too."
	Despite himself, Justin smiled. However, just as soon as it
appeared, the grin disappeared, and Justin sighed loudly. "I know. I'm
sorry, Joey, it's just that-" Justin closed his eyes. The other three
members of *NSYNC glanced at each other. They each shrugged in turn. After
a moment, Justin continued. "I just don't want JC to get hurt. At
all. Ever. Because of anyone. And for someone who I thought was his
friend-"
	"I am his friend!" Joey interjected.
	Justin's expression turned angry. "Then why would you-" But he
stopped himself. Taking a deep breath, he began again. "I know. I'm sorry
Joey. It's just that-Nevermind. There's no reason I should get all riled up
over it again." Justin's expression turned sad once more.
	"What's wrong, Curly?" Lance asked gently. His mind went back to JC
wiping the tear off of Justin's cheek. "Is there something else bothering
you?"
	Justin shook his head and laughed a soft, melancholy
laugh. "No. It's silly, isn't it? For me to get so emotional over something
that happened to someone else? It's just that I care about him so much. I
just want to make him happy." Justin sighed again and went to sit down
against the mirrored wall in the room.
	Lance glanced at Chris and Joey. He just wants to make JC happy,
Lance thought to himself. Interesting.
	JC returned to the room. Justin immediately began to get up, but JC
motioned for him to stay where he was. The older man instead walked over
and took a seat next to the blonde. "Just," he said quietly. "I want to
thank you again for standing up for me. You don't know what it means to
me."
	Justin took his hand and squeezed it gently. "Anything to make you
happy, Josh. It was my pleasure."
	JC laughed and the four other people in the room looked over at him
immediately. JC leaned over to Justin and placed a small kiss on his
cheek. "You're the sweetest person I know, Curly," he said, affectionately
ruffling Justin's hair. Justin blushed.
	Lance raised an eyebrow at the two. Things were starting to fall
into place.
	Watching as the two leaned towards each other so that their
foreheads touched, Lance noted that JC and Justin were still hand-in-hand,
and that they were gazing intently into each other's eyes. JC was
whispering something to the younger man, and Justin was smiling at
him. Lance nodded to himself. He knew that there had to have been an
explanation as to why Justin had gotten so upset.
	"He's in love with JC," Lance whispered to himself, a satisfied
smile on his lips.
	"You say something, Scoop?" Chris asked, turning away from his
conversation with Joey.
	"What? Oh, um, no." Lance responded, still smiling slightly.
	Chris glanced at JC and Justin, who had shifted positions. JC had
his arms wrapped protectively around Justin, and the latter had snuggled up
against the older man, burying his head in the sweatshirt covering JC's
chest. "Well," he chuckled. "Didn't they get comfy quick." The two men he
spoke of had both drifted off to sleep.
	"It's been a long day," Lance commented as he walked over to where
Darren was standing. "Hey," he said, getting their choreographer's
attention. "I think that we're going to cut out of here. We'll decide on
the dancer issue tonight, and get back to you first thing tomorrow
morning." Darren nodded and Lance turned back to the four other guys. "All
right, everyone. Darren said we could call it a day, and get going!"
	"'Bout time!" Chris exclaimed, and Joey let out a little
cheer. JC's eyes fluttered open, and he gently shook Justin awake. The two
stood up and collected their things with the other guys. The group said
their good-byes to Darren and then promptly exited the building and piled
into the limo that was waiting outside for them.
	Once they were inside, Justin immediately curled up against
JC. "You make such a wonderful pillow, Josh," he whispered sleepily.
	JC smiled at him affectionately as he wrapped his arms around the
curly-haired nineteen year-old. "Thank you," he whispered back, kissing the
top of Justin's head gently. Justin smiled and snuggled even closer to his
human pillow.
	Chris arched an eyebrow at them, as Lance had done earlier. He sent
a look of question at the other guys, which was returned by Joey. Lance
just smiled knowingly.
	Within minutes, both Justin and JC were asleep in each other's
arms. The ride was spent in silence as the other three band members
reflected upon the two men in front of them, as well as the events of the
day. Eventually, everyone fell asleep except Joey, who looked at JC
guiltily and sighed before placing an arm around Lance, who had fallen
asleep with his head on Joey's shoulder, steadying the younger
musician. Finally, he, too drifted off to sleep.

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Well, there it is. The first installment of my first story on Nifty. I hope
you like it. If you do (or even if you don't ^_^) feel free to write me at
Angel1313@worldnet.att.net Thanks for reading this!!!