Date: Thu, 01 Nov 2001 23:23:06 -0500
From: Writer Boy <writerboy69@hotmail.com>
Subject: jc's hitchhiker - part 11

Obligatory warnings and disclaimers:

1) If reading this is in any way illegal where you are or at your age, or
you don't want to read about male/male relationships, go away. You
shouldn't be here.

2) I don't know any of the celebrities in this story, and this story in no
way is meant to imply anything about their sexualities, personalities, or
anything else.  This is a work of pure fiction.

Questions and commentary can be sent to "writerboy69@hotmail.com". I've
been happy to hear from everyone who wrote to ask questions or say how much
they liked this so far, and I wanted to say Thank You to everyone who's
written. And yes, I realize that they ate lunch twice in one day in the
last chapter. Oooops. That's what happens when the author gets interrupted.

And now, on with the show.

"Excuse me?" I asked carefully.

Josh was grinding my fingers together like a woman in labor, the bones
painfully scraping, but he was white as chalk. Justin and Brit, in their
matching shirts, wore matching expressions of jaw-dropped surprise. Chris
had to actually spit a mouthful of beer onto the ground rather than cough
it up.

And Lance?

Lance was glaring at me, having risen from his chair. He took a step toward
me, and Josh took a step back, but I kept his hand locked in mine. Lance's
face was flushed, and his close together eyes drilled into mine.

"You heard me," he said. "What did you do to my friend? What the hell did
you do to him?"

"What the hell are you doing to him right now?" I snapped back.

"Lance, dude," Chris said, standing but not moving yet. "You're outta line.
Sit back down."

Lance spun to face him.

"I'm out of line? I am?" he barked. "You all sit here while Josh tells us
this guy turned him into a fucking homo and you all just nod your heads and
tell him it's great and I'm the one who's out of line?"

At the word "homo" Josh made a small, wounded noise behind me. My temper
was breaking, and I stepped in front of him, keeping Lance from getting any
closer to him.

"Yeah, you're outta line," Chris said again. "Sit your ass back in your
chair, now."

Britney and Justin stood as well.

"Maybe everyone should just calm down for a second," Brit began.

"Jack?" Justin asked.

"I don't feel like calming down," I said icily. "Exactly what is it you
think I've done to Joshua, Lance?"

Lance inhaled, pulling himself up.

"Turned him into a faggot, like you," Lance sneered.

"You son of a bitch!" I yelled, launching myself at him.

Britney lunged out of the way as Justin and Chris threw themselves in
between us, Chris shoving Lance backward in a hockey-style body check and
Justin grabbing me and physically holding me in place.

"I'll kick your fucking ass!" I screamed, trying to break out of Justin's
grip. Justin's feet skidded on the sidewalk, but he was still holding me,
although he was struggling.

"Come on, you fucking fairy!" Lance screamed back, as Chris continued
shoving him backward.

"Jack! Don't!" Brit yelled. "Lance! Stop it!"

"Everyone stop it!" Josh yelled, freezing us all. Tears coursed down his
face. "Stop it!"

None of us moved. Josh was in agony, his face twisted, and then he turned
and ran up the stairs toward his apartment.

"Josh!" I yelled, pulling away from Justin as Josh stumbled on the
steps. He pulled himself up and kept running. "Josh! Wait!"

I slid out of Justin's hands and ran up the steps after Josh. Behind me I
heard Lance yell, "Now look what you did!" while Chris yelled, "What the
fuck is wrong with you?" I ignored them both, and pushed open the door of
the apartment, but didn't see Josh anywhere.

"Josh?" I asked softly. "Josh, it's Jack. Josh, baby, where are you?"

He wasn't in the main room, but the bedroom door was open, and I heard him
sobbing in there. Crossing quickly to the door, I stepped inside, and he
collided with me, clinging to me like a drowning man to a life raft. I
wrapped my arms around him and his knees just buckled. Not wanting to drop
him, I stepped back, getting us both to a sitting position on the bed, and
I just cradled him, holding him tightly.

Josh was incapable of speaking, his body racked with sobs. He held tightly
onto me as I rocked a little back and forth and just tried to soothe
him. The front of my shirt was wet as he pressed his face into my chest. I
ran a hand through his hair, stroking his head, and made whispering
"Shhhhh." sounds, just trying to get him to slow down his breathing.  His
chest hitched, and I thought maybe he was trying to say my name.

"Josh, shhhh," I whispered. "It'll be ok, Josh."

My only answer was more sobbing. Sensing movement in the doorway, I looked
up, and saw Justin standing in the living room, his face twisted with
concern. He looked at me quizzically, as if to ask if he could do anything,
and I waved him away, quickly. I didn't know how many people Josh wanted to
see him like that. I realized when I looked up at Justin that I was crying,
as well, and I had to blink a few times to see him clearly. Justin
retreated to the living room.

Josh kept crying, and I kept soothing him. Eventually his tears leveled
off, and I realized that he was falling asleep. Carefully I pulled him up
the bed, and eased him onto a pillow.  He was still whimpering in his
sleep, and I felt my hands clench into fists.

"Is he ok?" Justin whispered from behind me.

"No, he's not, but I think he's asleep," I said, taking Justin's arm and
leading him into the living room.

"Are you ok?" Justin whispered.

We were face to face, only inches between us. I hadn't even been aware of
the proximity until Justin swiped his thumb over my cheek, flicking a tear
away.

"You're crying," he whispered.

"I need air," I said, stepping away from him. I had to look up to see into
Justin's eyes, as he was slightly taller than me. "Justin, he trusts
you. Can you stay here, in case he wakes up?"

"Sure, go catch your breath," he said.

"Thanks," I said, wiping at my own eyes again.

Suddenly I felt Justin's arms around me, as he pulled me against him
tightly.

"It'll be ok, Jack," he said, his breath hot on my ear, his lips scraping
against my cheek as he said it.

"I know," I said, quickly pulling away.

As I walked out the front door I glanced back, and saw Justin pull one of
the dining room chairs into a corner of the bedroom, so that he could watch
Josh. They really still were best friends, and Josh was in good hands. I
walked out, and sat at the top of the steps, looking up at the sky, and
then put my head in my hands. I heard someone begin climbing the staircase,
and looked up to see Chris walking toward me. He sat down next to me, and I
shoved over a little to give him some room.

"Hey," he said. "You ok, Jack?"

"I've been better," I said, not looking at him. "I'd kill for a cigarette."

"You smoke?" he asked, not looking at me, either.

"I quit," I answered. "Twice."

He reached into a pocket of his cargo shorts, and removed a pack of
cigarettes. Shaking two out, he handed me one and popped the other into his
mouth before lighting us both.

"You smoke?" I asked, taking a long, slow inhale. It seemed obvious that he
must, but I was surprised.

"Not officially, no," he answered, laughing.

"I see," I said, laughing along with him. Smoking did not convey a
wholesome image.  "Where is everyone?"

"Brit cleaned up the barbecue," Chris said, exhaling a large cloud. "I
think right now she's in Justin's apartment putting things in storage
containers. I even saw her before looking at the grill, like she might
scrub it."

"Her? Scrub a grill?" I blurted, trying to reconcile the image in my head.

Chris laughed.

"She has this domestic streak," he said, chuckling. "Lance is in his
apartment, probably praying for all of you."

"What?" I asked, turning to look at him.

"You heard me," Chris said. "He's probably in there on his knees by the
bed, right now."

"Praying for our souls?" I asked dubiously.

"Not yours, I'm sure," Chris said. "He's probably praying for JC, though.
You guys scared the hell out of him tonight."

"I didn't realize Lance was so religious," I said.

"It's where he goes for comfort, and I think Lance is feeling pretty
threatened right now," Chris said. "Lance isn't quite like the rest of
us. We're a family, but Lance has always been the one who focused on us
being a business, too. When we were first getting started, he handled a lot
of stuff with the management. Bookings, travel, hotels, all of that was
Lance. Even now, when other people handle stuff like that, he's the one who
sets up wake up calls with the hotels, and makes sure breakfast is there in
the morning."

"But I'm not a threat to any of that," I said.

"Yes, you are, to Lance," Chris said, adding the last part quickly as I
glared at him. "One of the band being gay would affect the whole band if it
came out."

"But he's only out to you guys," I said, shaking my head.

"For now," Chris said. "But the future? Who knows. And from Lance's point
of view you really did take his friend away."

"But Josh still wants to be friends with all of you," I said. I didn't
really understand any of this, but Chris seemed to get all of it.

"And Lance still wants to be friends with JC, I'm sure, but that's the
problem," Chris explained. "JC probably didn't mention this to you, but
we've had some strain lately.  That's why we've been taking so many breaks,
and why we're living together right now.  We're trying to patch things
over, and try to remember that we all like each other."

"What kind of strain?" I asked, curious for anything that might explain
this.

"Well, there's the way JC has been acting for a while," Chris began. "But
we've been all over that. Lance has also been on the outs with Justin for a
while, too. The whole premarital sex thing between him and Brit is a big
problem for Lance."

"And the rest of you are virgins?" I asked innocently.

"Oh, hell no," Chris answered, snickering. "But with those two it's
continuous and obvious, and Lance is offended. Now he's got something even
bigger to be offended about."

"Great," I said, throwing up my hands. "Now what do we do?"

"I'm not really sure," Chris said, destroying my idea of him as an
all-knowing boy band sage. "JC and Lance will have to work this out
themselves. In the meantime, I think you and Lance should probably give
each other a wide berth. I told him the same thing."

I shook my head.

"How are they supposed to work it out for themselves?" I asked. "Lance
doesn't really seem like he's interested in talking, and Josh is upstairs
sleeping because he cried until he passed out."

"Lance will come around," Chris said. "At least enough to keep things
between him and JC civil, because, like I said, they're friends. You,
though, I don't think he's ever going to like. He blames you for the pain
this is causing him."

"Causing him? Him?" I barked, standing. "What about Josh? He hasn't even
been able to talk he was crying so hard, and how do you think that makes me
feel? Am I supposed to be sorry Lance feels offended when Josh is upstairs
whimpering in his sleep?"

"Jack," Chris said, standing.

"I'm sorry," I said, depositing my cigarette in one of the potted plants.
"I'm sorry. It's not you I'm mad at, and I'm sorry I yelled at you. I'm
gonna go check on Josh.  Thanks for the cigarette."

"Anytime," Chris said, lighting a second one.

The apartment was dark when I opened the door. Justin hadn't turned on any
of the lights, which, I assumed, meant he hadn't moved from the chair the
entire time I'd been gone. I didn't hear any noise, so I was a little
startled by Justin's voice.

"Jack?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, it's me," I said, stepping into the bedroom.

It was almost pitch black in here, but I could just barely make out Josh,
curled on his side on the bed, where I'd left him. I didn't see Justin, and
I jumped when he put his hand on my shoulder.

"You ok now?" he asked, sniffing loudly. "I smell you've been talking to
Chris."

"Yeah, I'm fine," I answered. "Did he wake up?"

"No," Justin said. "He stopped that whimpering noise a while ago, though.
I'm gonna fucking kill Lance."

"No, Justin, don't do that," I whispered. The whole conversation had been a
string of hisses and whispers, as neither one of us wanted to wake
Josh. "Chris thinks we should let the two of them talk it out. So do I,
actually."

"You sure?" Justin asked. He could be surprisingly verbose in the absence
of Britney.

"I think so," I answered unsurely. "Thanks for staying here with him."

"Any time, bro," Justin said, giving me another quick hug. "Goodnight."

"Good night," I answered.

After Justin left I quickly stripped down to my boxers, and then began to
carefully remove Josh's shoes. He stirred a little, and sat up, but still
seemed mostly asleep.

"Jack?" he asked quietly.

"Shhhh, baby," I answered, stroking his face. "I'm right here. Let's get
you undressed for bed, ok?"

"Yeah, ok," he answered.

Josh helped me to pull off his clothes by raising his arms, and lifting his
hips when I needed to pull of his pants, but mostly he just sat there,
almost as if he was in a trance.  When I had him stripped down, I pulled
back the covers and pushed him gently onto the bed, and then I walked
around to the other side and climbed in. I thought he'd spoon against me,
since we usually slept with one of us spooned on the other, but he
surprised me, rolling over and laying his head on my chest. His arms
wrapped around me, and I quickly cradled him in mine.

"I love you, Jack," he whispered. His voice quavered, but he wasn't crying
again, which I thought was probably a sign of improvement.

"I love you, too, Josh," I said, feeling him tremble.

"I thought Lance was my friend," Josh said, his voice cracking. "I thought
he was my friend. Did you hear what he said?"

"Shhh, Josh, they're just words," I said. My heart was breaking to hear him
like this.  Maybe I'd help Justin kill Lance after all. "Lance is your
friend. He's just scared and confused."

"But Jack," Josh began, and I kissed his forehead.

"Josh, maybe this will all look better in the morning," I said. "You're too
upset to think clearly about this right now. Why don't we just get some
sleep, and look at this again tomorrow?"

"That's a good idea," Josh said, sighing against my chest. "I love you."

"I love you, too," I answered. "Everything's going to be ok."

As Josh finally fell asleep, I hoped that I was right, and that everything
would be ok. I lay in the bed staring at the ceiling, listening to the
overall silence of the building. I couldn't hear any cars on the road
outside, and Justin and Britney were apparently not in the mood this
evening. Josh nuzzled closer to me in his sleep, his hair brushing my chin,
his warm cheek scraping over my chest, his head rising and falling with my
breathing.  I looked down at his face, watching his eyes dance behind his
eyelids, and hoped again that everything would be ok, and that I'd be able
to keep him from getting hurt again.

When I woke up in the morning, I didn't feel Josh's warm weight on my chest
anymore.  Groggily I rolled to the side, throwing an arm out for him, but
my hand fell on empty bed. Looking up, although it was still pretty dark, I
realized he wasn't anywhere in the bedroom. I listened carefully, thinking
that maybe he had gone to the bathroom, but heard nothing, so I slid
quickly out of bed. Crossing toward the door, I immediately collided with
the chair that Justin had pulled in last night. Cursing softly, I pushed it
all the way back into the corner, where neither of us would run into it.

"Josh?" I called softly.

He didn't answer. A quick glance at the clock on the nightstand told me
that it was just after five in the morning. Where the hell could he be at
that hour? Not in the living room.  It was empty as well. He wasn't getting
a drink in the kitchen area, either, and the bathroom was also empty. I
took a quick pit stop there to pee, and then poked my head into the door to
the other bedroom.

Josh had his back to me, his smooth shoulders glinting in the light of the
one lamp that hung over the keyboard. His bright white boxer briefs gleamed
under the lamp, stretching over his things and the glimpse of his
cotton-covered ass that I could see through the space between the chair
back and the seat. He had his earphones on, and his head was bobbing lazily
to music that I couldn't hear, as his whole body moved slowly back and
forth on the chair swaying along. His arms were flexing and twisting, the
veins in his forearms standing out, as he pounded the keys. His head swung
to the side, and I saw that his eyes were closed, but his fingers flew with
passionate skill over the keys.

I thought about going over, touching him, letting him know I was there, but
realized that he was in his own space right now, dealing with things in his
own way. Josh poured himself into his music, and was now obviously using it
to help him sort through whatever was going on. Sleepy, yawning, I went
back to bed, sliding between sheets that had not yet had time to get cold.

I was awakened some time later when Josh climbed carefully back onto the
bed, obviously trying not to wake me.

"Hey," I said, holding out an arm as he slid over to me.

Josh draped an arm over my chest, his skin warm against mine. He leaned in
and kissed me, his lips seeking mine as our chins scraped roughly over each
other, my morning stubble bristling through the strip of his goatee. His
bare chest pressed against mine, and I felt his nipples sliding over the
slope of my pecs as his tongue darted swiftly in and out of my mouth,
snakelike. He pulled back, and I lost myself for a second in his eyes,
seeing my own reflected back at me.

"Hey," he whispered.

He leaned forward, kissing me again, and caught my lower lip in his teeth.
Pulling back, he stretched it a little before letting go and leaning in to
kiss again and repeat.

"Feel better?" I asked, brushing a stray lock of his hair out of his eyes.

"Lots better," he answered, kissing me again. "Want to see how good I
feel?"

"Love to," I replied, as his hand slid down under the sheet.

I wasn't sure what his hand was doing, as he wasn't touching me with it,
but then I felt him shifting on the bed a little, and his hand reappeared,
clutching his snowy white boxer briefs. He flung them off to the side,
where they hit the wall and fell to the floor. Josh dropped his hands to my
shoulders, pulling himself onto me, and just draping his body over mine,
face to face, our noses rubbing before he leaned down to kiss me again. His
nipples, now hard, bored into my chest, and my breathing unconsciously
matched the rhythm of his as our abs flexed against each other. Lower, I
could feel his cock pressing against mine, throbbing through the thin
fabric of my boxers.

His weight crushed me into the bed, but it was a sexual pressure, and I
loved the feeling of the full body contact, the warmth of his skin sliding
against mine, my whole body on fire. It was like he was touching me in a
thousand different places at once, and he flexed against me again, nipping
at my jawbone, tugging at my ear with his teeth.

"I'm feeling a lot better," he purred, kissing me again and again.

"I see that," I sighed, surrendering myself to his tongue and his roaming
hands, which slid over my chest, up and down my neck, through my hair,
turning my head from side to side so he could reach any part of my skin
that struck his fancy.

He giggled, disappearing under the covers, his body sliding over mine. I
couldn't see him, as he was completely under the sheet, a featureless shape
moving lower and lower on the bed. I felt his nose brush past my navel, and
then felt his fingers sliding under the waistband of my boxers, tugging at
them. I lifted my ass, and they slid off, his hands following them down my
legs, caressing my thighs and calves before he practically jumped back up
the bed, his head bursting from under the sheet. His mouth fell onto mine
again as his body crashed on top of me, forcing the breath from my lungs in
a whoop of laughter. He threw my boxers off to the side, too, and they
joined his boxer briefs on the same part of the floor.

"What's gotten into you?" I asked, amused by his playfulness.

"Nothing," he said. "I love you. That's all."

"I love you, too," I answered, rolling.

I was now on top of him, my hard cock sliding over his, my firm body
pressing against his smooth, sleekly muscled form. Our hands roamed over
each other as our tongues dueled in each other's mouths, the two of us no
longer laughing, caught up in the urgency of our need as we moved against
each other. Josh scraped his fingers exquisitely down my back, and I arched
into him, my cock pressing against his, both of us leaking and dripping,
sliding and gliding and throbbing against each other.

We rolled again, the sheet wrapping around us, so that he was on top of me
again. Our cocks continued to grind against each other, the heads brushing,
the ridges on our crowns catching, as we continued trying to consume each
other's mouths. My hands slid up and down Josh's back, pressing and
pulling, as he began to grind his pelvis against mine in earnest. Both of
us were flexing, and sighing, pushing against each other, trying to meld
our bodies, pressing ourselves into each other. Josh groaned into my mouth
as I grabbed the bag of his head with one hand, pushing his head forcefully
against mine, smashing our lips roughly between both our teeth. Josh's
hands continued to slide up and down my body, stopping here to twist a
nipple, or there just to caress or massage, and my other hand followed his
spine down to his ass, grabbing one of his cheeks and squeezing it as hard
as I could as he groaned again and shot his cum all over our bellies.

As he groaned my name, his hips jerking against me, Josh tugged on my
earlobe again with his teeth as his fingers found one of my nipples and
squeezed, hard. I felt my own hips jerking as my cum joined his, gluing us
together. I felt his cock throbbing, right against mine, felt every jerk
and surge as we both pumped ourselves dry. I gently took hold of his head
and pulled it up, so that he was looking down at me, his panting mouth
open, his eyes heavy lidded, and his face flushed.

"Tell me again that you love me," I whispered, kissing him.

"I love you, Jack," he answered, laying his head back down. "I love you."

"Good," I said, holding him. "Because I love you, too."

We lay there for several minutes before Josh chuckled softly against my
neck.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Nothing," he answered. "I'm just thinking that we should get in the
shower.  If this stuff dries, it's going to rip out our hair when I try to
get off you."

"That's why I love you," I said, laughing. "You're so eloquent and
charming, so cultured and refined."

"So naked, so slimed with cum," he added, lifting himself off of me.

I followed him to the bathroom, and together we climbed into the shower.
Josh was still in that playful mood, and there was a lot of horsing around
in the shower.  Somehow we ended up ripping half of the curtain down,
although neither of us could explain how, and we collapsed in giggles,
oblivious to the water spraying all over the bathroom. We ended up having
to go to the linen closet for towels, as the ones in the bathroom were
soaked.

"Should we mop it up?" I asked.

"We could just leave the windows open, and let it evaporate," Josh
suggested.

"Good idea," I said, ruffling his hair with a towel. "What are we going to
do today?"

Josh took a deep breath.

"I'm going to go talk to Lance," he answered.

***

That's it for now.