Date: Sun, 08 Oct 2000 21:54:47 +0000 From: Angel1313@att.net Subject: Devotion ch.16 Devotion Chapter Sixteen: Working Out the Kinks Disclaimer: First off, I'm sorry this is so late! I don't know/own/have anything to do with *NSYNC. Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter! If you do, feel free to write me to *tell* me, so I know that people read this. Oh, and to the people who *do* read this: Words cannot describe how much your e-mails mean to me, so...please keep sending them! Thanks again!! -Angel1313 ^_^ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Sixteen: Working Out the Kinks JC sat down with his back against the mirrored wall in the medium sized dance studio. Spreading his legs apart, he patted the space right in front of himself. "Sit," he commanded the blonde before him. Justin smiled and sat in-between his bandmate's legs, folding his own beneath him. "Josh," the nineteen year-old began as the older man started kneading Justin's shoulders gently. "Thank you so much for taking the time to do this." JC sighed mentally as he worked on his best friend. /Why does he have to be so damn sweet?/ he lamented. Smiling a little despite himself, he added, /And cute!/ Out loud the twenty-four year-old replied, "It's no trouble, Curly. Really. Now," he continued, directing his attention to the massage he was giving once again. "What's been bothering you?" JC immediately felt the younger man tense up. "Just?" he questioned. "What's bothering me?" the blonde spat angrily. /What does he *think*?!/ he thought to himself. "You know," JC hastily explained, hoping to avoid a confrontation. "Which shoulder, what area, the basics." Justin's anger melted away and a feeling of foolishness took its place. "Oh," he mumbled. "Um, my, uh, right shoulder," reaching back he patted his back around the area of his shoulder. "Right here." "Okay, thanks," JC said as he began to work more in that area. "Mmm," Justin murmured quietly. "That feels so *good,* Josh." /Keep focused!/ JC's mind told him, as he tried to ignore the blonde before him. /Dirty thoughts are the *last* thing you need right now!/ JC finished the massage in a silence only broken by Justin's occasional noises of appreciation. Patting the nineteen year-old's back gently, JC announced, "There, all done. Feel any better?" "A lot," Justin replied, leaning back against the older man. "Thanks again." Without thinking, JC responded to Justin's lying against him by wrapping his arms around the younger man's waist. As the blonde nuzzled his head back so that it was resting in the crook between his best friend's neck and shoulder, JC whispered, "It was no problem, Just. Really. Glad I could help." Justin placed his hands over JC's on his waist. /This feels so right,/ the nineteen year-old thought to himself. /JC must feel it, too. He just *has* to!/ Justin decided that he'd just have to remind the older man of his feelings. "Josh," he whispered, tilting his head slightly to look up at the twenty-four year-old. "I lo-" "All right, everyone!" Darren called, addressing the five members of *NSYNC and the many dancers also in the studio. "Lance here finally got the move-" the room burst into applause. Lance hid his bright red face behind Joey. "-so we can get to work on the new stuff." Turning to the area where most of the back up dancers were practicing, the choreographer continued, "Now the guys don't know the part with you yet, but they have their whole solo thing down, for the last chorus, remember? Okay, good, so bear with us for this first part. It may take a while." "Especially for Lance," Chris added. Joey smacked him, "Leave Lance alone, Mr. Two-Left-Feet!" Chris smacked Joey back. "Same goes to you!" Turning to Justin and JC, who were still sitting together against the mirror, Chris laughed as said, "Hey ladies, you thinkin' about joining us? If we have to go through this shit, so do you!" Justin, who was not happy about being interrupted, simply glared at the twenty-eight year-old. JC sighed. "C'mon, Curly," he said, removing his arms from around the younger man's waist. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go back to the hotel and relax." Sliding back so that he could stand, JC got up and walked around so that he was facing the blonde. Reaching his hands down, the brunette silently offered help to stand up. "Thanks," Justin grunted as he was pulled up by the older man. Lowering his voice, he added, "For everything, Josh. And I'm not talking about the massage." With that, the nineteen year-old dropped his best friend's hands and headed over to where Darren was teaching the beginnings of the dance to the other three members of *NSYNC. JC stood pondering what Justin had said before turning to join his bandmates. The rest of the dance rehearsal passed uneventfully, as everyone was too busy to just sit around and talk. It was already seven when the five members of *NSYNC made their way back to the hotel. Everyone was too exhausted to go out clubbing, so the boys elected to all do their own thing back at the hotel. As soon as they were back in their room, JC headed to the shower. Justin sighed; he'd really wanted to get his talk with the older man over with. /The sooner I talk to him, the sooner this is all cleared up,/ the nineteen year-old reasoned with himself. /And that means Josh and I will hopefully get together!/ Justin giggled a little before an idea struck him. Grabbing a change of clothing, he headed over to Chris' room. /I've never known Chris to take more then five minutes in the shower; I'll be ready when JC comes out if I rinse off over here./ Chris let Justin in and gladly let him use the shower. As Justin had predicted, the twenty-eight year-old was already finished taking his. "Well, I'm gonna head over to Lance and Joey's place, so just be sure to lock the door when you leave," Chris told the youngest member of *NSYNC. Laughing, he added, "I don't want any crazed fans breaking in or anything!" Justin laughed and headed into the bathroom. Five minutes later, Justin was walking back into the room he was sharing with his best friend. JC was still in the shower. Just as the nineteen year-old was sitting down to wait for his friend, the phone rang. "Hello?" he said into the receiver. "Justin?" a deep bass voice on the other end of the line inquired. "The one and only. What do you need, Lance?" "There's someone over in my room that wants to see you," Lance answered. "Who?" Justin asked, puzzled by Lance's statement. "It's a surprise!" Lance giggled. "So come on over. Oh, and tell JC to come, too." "He's in the shower," Justin replied. "But I'll let him know." "You're going to let him know while he's in the shower?" Lance repeated. "Aw, man, you two will never make it over here!" Willing himself to not get angry, Justin said, "I'll be over in a minute, okay?" "Okay, see ya," Lance responded before hanging up. Hanging up the phone himself, Justin whispered, "He was just joking, he was just joking," over and over to himself, still trying to keep himself from getting worked up over something so small. "He didn't mean it," Justin tried to convince himself. "He doesn't know what's going on between me and Josh; he didn't mean it." Walking over to the bathroom door, Justin knocked lightly. Receiving no response, the nineteen year-old took a deep breath before gently twisting the doorknob. It was unlocked. "Josh?" he called softly, poking his head in. The mirror was all fogged up, and the shower curtain was closed. He could hear JC humming to himself. Justin smiled; /He's humming "Promise,"/ the blonde realized. As JC came to the chorus, Justin sang out, "And I will take, you in my arms, and hold you right where you belong." Immediately, JC stuck his head out from behind the shower curtain. "Justin!" he exclaimed. "You practically gave me a heart attack!" Justin smiled. "Sorry. I recognized the song, and couldn't help myself. Say," he continued, a sly smile forming on his lips. "If I recall correctly, I'd say that *you* were supposed to be singing that to *me.*" JC smiled back at the youngest member of *NSYNC. "I've loved you forever, in lifetimes before. And I promise you never, will you hurt anymore," he sang out to the blonde. Justin felt his heart begin to beat faster. There was the object of his affection, wearing only a shower curtain, his hair gleaming, his body-what Justin could see of it, anyway-glistening, and he was singing about "loving him forever." It was almost too much for the young man to take. /Kiss him,/ a voice in the back of his mind kept urging him. /Just go over there, grab him and *kiss him*!!/ Blushing, Justin shyly averted his eyes, focusing on the mat in front of the tub. He knew he'd never actually run up to JC. He wished that he could but it was just too unrealistic. His best friend had always been so unobtainable; he was sure that he'd be rejected, and that it would only make the strain on their friendship worse. Suddenly, Justin became aware that JC had stopped singing. He quickly glanced up, only to find his best friend's intense blue eyes watching him. "Jus, you okay?" the twenty-four year-old asked the blonde before him. "Yeah, I'm um, just going to head over to Lance's. He says that you should come when you're done," Justin muttered. "Okay, I'll try to be quick, then," JC replied, before closing the shower curtain completely. Taking one more wistful glance at the shower, Justin turned to leave. As he was closing the door, he heard JC's sweet voice singing again. "I give you my word, I give you my heart. This is a battle we've won..." /If only it was,/ the nineteen year-old thought with a sigh. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Okay, another slightly odd place to end, but I wanted a clean break before Justin goes over to Lance and Joey's place. And who's the mysterious guest? I guess you'll just have to wait until next time! Feel free to write me and ask...I won't tell you, but it's always worth a try ^_^ Thanks for reading this!!