Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2001 08:25:38 +0000
From: Angel1313@att.net
Subject: Devotion ch.31

Devotion
Chapter Thirty-One:
The Morning After

Disclaimer: Happy New Year, everyone! I know I haven't been around since
before Thanksgiving, but uh... I'm back now, so that's all that matters,
right? >.< Okay, maybe not, but I hope you like the new chapter! Oh, and
congrats to *NSYNC on their Grammy nomination!! (Sad that I'm writing about
the Latin Grammys, huh?) I hope you can stand that this is incredibly old,
and I hope I can concentrate on *NSYNC again, but I'm gonna warn you, I've
just discovered the wonderful world of West Wing slash... (Josh&Sam
forever!! ^_^) Oh, and if anyone is actually still bothering to read
"Devotion," please send me feedback! You know I love it!! Thanks! -Angel
^_^

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter Thirty-One:
The Morning After

	"So..." Chris began, looking around the table at each of his
bandmates. Justin hadn't touched his cereal, but he *was* intently watching
JC eat his, Joey looked as if death had warmed over, and Lance was possibly
asleep, the twenty-eight year-old couldn't really tell.
	"Wow, you guys are more fun then a barrel full of monkeys!" Chris
tried again, but still there was no response. Taking a deep breath, he
decided that he'd have to pull out the big guns. "Guys, I'm leaving."
	Everyone stopped what they were doing-which wasn't much- and turned
to Chris in shock.
	"What?" Justin sputtered. "But, w-why?"
	"Wait," Joey began, looking about as though he had just woken
up. "Wait, what did you say, Chris? What's going on?"
	"Did you find out?" JC asked, looking deeply hurt and quite
alarmed. "Does it really make you that uncomfortable?"
	"How are we going to sing?" Lance's deep bass voice cut in. Despite
the fact that he was usually able to keep a level head, this had totally
thrown him off, and he wasn't making sense, either. "What will we perform?
Management! There's something to be said about management!"
	As they all quieted to turn and stare at Lance, Chris' laughter
could be heard. "You idiots!" The twenty-eight year-old managed between his
chuckles. "I didn't say that I'm leaving the band! I'm just going to take a
shower." As everyone's shock turned to anger, Chris quickly made his exit,
calling out, "You just talk amongst yourselves, all right?"
	When the door finally shut, the four remaining members of *NSYNC
turned and looked at each other in quiet wonder. Suddenly, Justin
brightened.
	"JC and I have something to tell you," the nineteen year-old
informed his bandmates, bubbling with joy.
	JC shot his younger bandmate a nervous look, and the blonde seemed
to loose his courage.
	"What?" Lance asked, looking at the two expectantly.
	Justin hesitantly opened his mouth, but JC cut him off. "Nothing,"
the twenty-four year-old said quickly. "We were just wondering what the
rest of the party was like last night."
	As Lance and Joey began to talk about the celebration at Jive
records, Justin stared at his new boyfriend in shock.
	/Why didn't Josh want to tell them about us?/ the nineteen year-old
wondered. The more he dwelled on it, the more insecure Justin
became. /Maybe he thinks that he made a mistake, or maybe he's ashamed of
me. Maybe he just wants this to be casual, and I'm moving too fast./
	Similar thoughts and questions swirled around the young star's head
for the rest of the morning.

	"Well, we need to get to LA for the Latin Grammys, but until then,
our schedule is clear," Lance informed his bandmates, once again all
gathered in his hotel room.
	"Okay, so does that mean we get a couple days of vacation?" Joey
asked excitedly. Normally the question would have come from Justin, but the
teen had been rather subdued since breakfast.
	"No," Lance sighed. "Actually, we're going to be doing a lot of
work in the mean time."
	"What?" Chris exclaimed. "Oh, wait... we're going to do another
video, right?"
	Sighing again, this time with more frustration, Lance began, "No,
actually we need to-"
	"Practice with Son by Four, the Latin group we're going to appear
on stage with," JC cut in. As everyone turned to him in shock, the brunette
explained, "I talked to Johnny."
	"Oh," everyone else replied.
	"Not to mention the fact that we have to learn `Promise' in
Spanish," Lance added, bringing everyone's attention back to the problem at
hand.
	"It's `Yo te voy a amar,' isn't it?" Joey asked, proud that he had
remembered.
	"`Yo te *boy* a amar,'" Chris corrected his bandmate. "You
pronounce Vs as Bs in Spanish."
	Rolling his eyes, Joey muttered, "Oh, wow, I can really see that
Latino side of you *now,* Chris."
	As everyone else laughed, and Chris light-heatedly defended
himself, Justin stood up. He waited until all four sets of eyes were on him
before announcing, "If that's all, then I think I'm going to go to bed."
	Lance nodded his dismissal, and the nineteen year-old exited the
room.
	"What was that all about?" Joey asked after the door had been
closed.
	"I don't know," Chris replied. "But he's been like that since this
morning."
	"JC, do you know what's up?" Joey asked, as he, Chris, and Lance
turned to the twenty-four year-old expectantly.
	Shaking his head slowly, the brunette offered weakly, "He was fine
last night."
	Lance sighed once again. "Well, he was fine at breakfast,
too. Something must have set him off."
	Joey fiddled with his watch absently as he tried to figure out what
had happened. "Damn!" he exclaimed, causing his bandmates to turn to him in
surprise. "I wish I hadn't been so out of it this morning."
	"No kidding," Chris said dryly. "I was the only one of you who
seemed to actually be there, Justin included."
	"Did you notice anything unusual about his behavior?" JC asked
anxiously.
	"You mean besides the fact that he didn't touch his cereal? No, not
really," the twenty-eight year-old replied sarcastically.
	"He didn't?" JC echoed. "I-I can't believe I didn't notice."
	"Yeah," Joey agreed. "I mean, you usually watch him like a
hawk. Are you two fighting again or something?"
	Lance frowned at the former red-head disapprovingly, but Joey
didn't notice.
	"No, we're not," JC replied, looking confused. "Actually, things
were going surprisingly well."
	"How so?" Lance prodded. "Did you two work things out last night?
Britney said you two were going to try."
	Flushing, JC said vaguely, "Um, yeah, we talked and stuff."
	Chris and Joey began to laugh. "Stuff?" the twenty-eight year-older
repeated. "What kind of stuff?"
	Blushing even deeper, the brunette mumbled, "Nothing, we just hung
out."
	"I bet you did," Joey continued to laugh.
	"Guys, that's enough," Lance hissed. JC looked relieved, but Chris
raised an eyebrow at the Mississippian in questioning.
	/He sure didn't seem to mind when it was *me* making the comments,/
the twenty-eight year-old mused silently. /And I thought they were starting
to get along again.../
	Hoping to keep everyone from returning to the previous subject, JC
asked, "So, we're leaving for Los Angeles tomorrow morning, right?"
	"Our flight's at ten AM," Lance confirmed.
	"Then I think I'm going to turn in as well. I need to pack," JC
said, standing up.
	"Yeah, I think I'm gonna get up early and pack tomorrow, so I'm
heading to bed as well," Chris yawned. "Besides, I'm pretty tired from last
night," he admitted, yawning again.
	Once Chris and JC left, after saying goodnight, of course, Joey
turned to Lance.
	"Well?" the New Yorker inquired. "Feel like doing anything?"
	"Joey, didn't I explain this to you last night?" Lance began.
	Sighing, Joey asked, "Why do you always assume that I'm trying to
get into your pants? Lance, I just meant that we could watch a movie, or
grab a bite to eat, or-"
	"Go clubbing?" Lance interrupted with a grin.
	Laughing, Joey agreed, "Or go clubbing."
	"Well, would you like to go?" the blonde offered.
	"Seriously?" Joey replied in disbelief.
	"You're right, Joe; I've been assuming too much. So what do you
say? A night on the town- on me."
	His eyes lit with sadness, Joey whispered, "You don't have to,
Scoop. I don't want you to feel like you have to."
	"Now you're not listening," Lance chuckled. "I said I was wrong,
that's all. I *want* to go clubbing. With you."
	Smiling, Joey said quietly, "Thank you, Scoop. Thank you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was short, I know, but I hope it wasn't *too* bad. More problems, I
know, but at least things are starting to work out between Lance and
Joey. I'm really going to try to write Chapter 32 right away. Really! I
meant it this time ^_~ Anyway, thanks for reading! -Angel ^_^