Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2001 08:13:27 +0800
From: Dane Javier <blue_gray_sky@hotmail.com>
Subject: Remains of Being Human Chapter3-4

Author's Notes: FYI, Nsync isn't really Nsync in this world because this
story is an AU.

Disclaimer: I'm not responsible for any form of slander that maybe come upon
any of those mentioned in the story because it's all fiction. None of this
is true.


The Remains of Being Human
By Dane

Chapter 3:

	Lance jumped into my bed at around 3AM and scared the living daylights out
of me. "Jesus Lance! You Fucker! You almost gave me a coronary! What time is
it?' This 'Dawson's Creek' habit of climbing into each other's window in the
dead of night is annoying sometimes.

	Lance smirked and pushed me out of my warm, nice bed, the Bastard! 'It's
time for you to wake up so we can pick-up the rest of the gang so we can get
on with our vacation. Now, where are your bags? I'll place them in my RAV4
while you get dressed and wash up. The tank's all full and, from what I can
tell from this window, Chrissy is wide awake and raring to go.'

	I sigh in slight despair. 'There in the front hallway. Let me just get a
quick shower and say goodbye the parental units. I'll see you at Chrissy's
place. Oh, and can you turn on the coffee machine in the kitchen for me. I
need coffee.' He gave me one of his innocent-type smiles that makes me want
to smack him upside in the head sometimes and bounded out of room.

	Trying to shake the persistent cobwebs in my head, I made good time in the
shower and decided to wear a bandana instead of actually spending a good
hour trying to tame my wild curls into something remotely civilized. I
dressed up in a pair of cut-off jeans and a button-down baby blue shirt.
Then I crept into my parent's room and silently shook Lynn as I squatted to
her face level. 'Mom, I'm gonna go already. I'm just going to grab a cup of
coffee downstairs and grab a quick breakfast at Chrissy's place. Now, go
back to sleep and I'll be on my way.' She gave me a weak, loving smile and
gave me a kiss on my forehead as a sign that she understood what I said.

	'Drive carefully, Justin. Remember to call me when you get there and every
so often when you get the chance.'

	'I will, mom. Just go back to bed, okay. Beautiful women need their beauty
sleep.' I kissed her on the cheek before heading towards the door. I left
her to snuggle against Paul and heard her mumble before nodding off, 'Such a
charmer.' I grinned and closed the door of her room silently. The percolator
was steaming with a fresh brew of coffee. Thank you, Lance. I poured a cup
full and stirred in enough sugar into it to cause a sugar high in Halloween.
All sweet and bitter at the same time. Wonderful! Gulping it down after it
reached a reasonable temperature, I made sure that I didn't leave anything
and made my way to the Aguilera's house across the street.

	Outside, Lance's RAV4 was parked in the driveway and all the lights in the
first floor were on. Even from where I was, I could smell breakfast being
made. Chrissy's mom is a real trouper when it comes to feeding people; she
used to be a cafeteria chef. Sometimes, you would find her cooking or baking
at odd hours of the night when everybody has their head on their pillows.
Chrissy herself sometimes follows this weird activity, if only to make some
of her famous brownies. I got on to her front door and knocked a little,
instead of the buzzer as to not wake up the rest of her family. Chrissy
opened the door and gleefully pulled me in. Must be eating some of those
brownies already, I think.  Lance was sitting on the kitchen table,
shoveling his face with eggs and hash browns. Mrs. Aguilera was over the
stove stirring what looked like some sort of stew for breakfast later for
the rest of the family.

	'Good morning, Justin. I hope you had a good night's sleep,' greeted Mrs.
Aguilera as she sprinkled some oregano into the pot. Even after seven
children, she could still pass for Chrissy's older sister.

	'I slept well, Mrs. A. I would have slept better if Lancey here didn't wake
me up before my alarm.' Lance just smirked, the Shithead.

	'Well, at least you don't have any early snags before all of you leaving.
Now Christina, get a plate for your friend and dig in. Joey's in the den
dozing off a bit. He decided to come here instead of you guys getting him.
Poor boy, he didn't get any sleep at all. Tossing and turning. I hope you
won't make him drive on your way to Key West, won't you. Let him sleep on
the trip there. Poor thing.' Mrs. A is quite the worrier as you can tell, a
picture of a doting, worried mother.

	Chrissy gave me a plate full of food and sat herself down across from me.
The four of us continued with our talk about nothing until Joey stumbled
into the kitchen looking like a truck ran over him. Poor guy, what a time
for Insomnia to kick in, as he said. Funny, I don't believe him. He wore a
plain white t-shirt and well-worn dark blue denims with very scruffy
sneakers. He refused the offer for breakfast, which made all of us raise an
eyebrow. He never turned down a meal. Something was going on, and I intended
to find out later.

	Soon, Britney came, along with her mom driving, to the side of the road in
front of the house. She quickly ran into the kitchen in her fitted cargo
pants and white top. 'Hey Mrs. A! Hey guys! Hey Sugah!' she leaned in and
gave me peek on the cheek. All three of our friends' mad kissy noises until
I gave them the face, which just made them laugh. 'Chrissy, grab your bags.
My mom is waiting outside for us.'

	'We'll see you guys off,' said Lance as he and Joey got up to bring
Chrissy's bags into the car. Britney looked at Joey and shot up an eyebrow
as well. She took Lance's place beside me and whispered to me and Chrissy.

	'Is Joey okay?'

	'I don't know. He was fine earlier when he joined me at the café. I don't
think he went to sleep after I dropped him home afterwards. Chrissy, can you
fill me and Brit as to what happened to Joey when he arrived here?'

	Chrissy mused for a second. 'Joey arrived here with Lance about 30 minutes
ago. Lance said that Joey came over about hour before that. He couldn't
sleep and he knew that Lance was awake already at that time so he came over
to his place. He said the Joey was fine until they left his house and came
here. Joey just asked if he could lie down for a while in the den. He looked
worse for wear when he came out to join us.'

	I grimaced and rubbed my fingers on my temples. Luckily Mrs. A went out
with Joey and Lance to talk to Mrs. Spears outside. 'We talked a bit
yesterday night about his moping lately. He told me that he was trying to
sort things out. When he finally places everything into something that makes
sense, I'll be the first person he'll tell.'

	Britney grasped my hand. 'Juju, I think its wise for you to watch over him.
I hear from Jessie that she saw Joey come out of the boys' bathroom in
school with red eyes. She thinks Joey was crying. I hope he will get to open
up soon though. I smiled at her. She can have her human moments when one is
looking. 'Chrissy, let's go out now before my mom has a conniption. Coming,
Justin?'

	I stood and followed them outside. My mind started to race again, only this
time it's for my friend who seems to be on the verge of isolating himself.
In fact, I'm really worried, even more so now that Joey's like this.

	I want to give some background on my Italian friend who lives just down the
street from me. As you know, he's popularly known as 'the player' in our
school because of his tendency to flirt and charm his way around people. I
know better because that's he's defense mechanism. His school life is a
complete contradiction from his home life. At home, he's the youngest Fatone
who happens to be also the black sheep of the family. Both his older
siblings are geniuses while he's just above average. His siblings are into
science and technology, while Joey is into theater. Steve, Joey's brother,
is a physicist and Janine, his sister, is a micro-biologist. You can only
imagine the disappointment that his parent's feel whenever Joey comes home
with a report card full of B+'s instead of A+'s. It's because of his
limitations that make Joey seem like an outsider in his house. That's why he
spends most of his time sleeping over either at my place or Lance's whenever
the atmosphere in that house becomes too thick. And his brother and sister
aren't that helpful either. I can only picture how much resentment he holds
for being his dad's junior.

	Yet despite all of his troubles, he's still seems to be the happiest
bastard on earth. Sometimes, I wonder if he's capable of feeling over than
happiness outside of that house. This morning just proved that thought. He's
human after all. Only Barney can be that happy all the time.

	We all gathered outside the Aguilera house to bid our goodbyes until the
weekend before classes would start again. The girls gave each of us a big
hug each with Britney staying as long as possible on me. 'Take care of
yourself, Sweet B. Don't let those strange Big City men corrupt you into
their wild and deviant ways,' I said with as much loving, teasing care that
I could muster. Britney smiled and gave me a sweet lingering kiss. As soon
as we came up for air, she kissed me again before getting into the passenger
side of the car. Both of the girls waved through the windows as the car
moved away. I sighed and turned to say thanks to Chrissy's mom for the early
breakfast. She stood on the porch of the house and waved as we settled into
the Lance's car. Since Joey was going to crash any minute now, I took
shotgun. We all waved back as Lance drove in the opposite direction from the
girls' destination. I didn't notice a shadowy figure looming just down the
street from where we were. We passed the figure and a sense of foreboding
flooded my sense. Something was going to happen. I just know it. Well, best
not think about it now. Key West! Here we come!

	'Shit!' exclaimed Lance as he turned into the highway, eyes all pupil with
realization. 'Chrissy forgot to give us brownies for the trip.' We cried out
frustration, but not let it get to us too much.



Chapter 4:

	The trip going to the Keys was, in one word, boring. Nothing was on the
radio, except country, which delighted Lance. I tried to talk to him for
some part of the trip but gave up after awhile. I could only take so much of
Lance giving me shrugs, monosyllabic words, lines from a song, and 'I don't
knows' for answers. Joey slept most of the way until we encountered the
early morning traffic that was going to Key West. By that time, all of us
were starting to get hyped up about the upcoming vacation time. Joey reached
for the radio, which until now was only playing soft traveling music for
Joey's benefit, and cranked it up to SR-71's 'Right Now'.

	Joey slipped his hands over the front seats and placed them over our
shoulders. I moved my eyes on his left hand and saw that he was stroking
Lance's shoulder with unconscious action. How oblivious can Lance get, I
wonder sometimes. Lance somehow gotten out of his 'simian grunt' reflex and
we all started to talk more like human beings who are excited over this
trip.

	After an hour and a half, we reached the southern most point of the USA
and, since it was still early, we take a drive around the island to see what
the sights were. After finding all the party spots, beaches, and bars, we
all decided to grab a quick lunch then head on out to our guesthouse for the
week. What's cool about the place where we were staying was that it faces
the ocean. The waves were big enough so that I could go surfing sometime
later in the week. Knowing Joey, he would be distracting himself with some
'booty call' hunting when we aren't together. Lance, God knows what he'll be
doing but I hope that it will be constructive. That and I'm hoping that he
will drop that Good Boy cover of his and finally get laid.

	I wouldn't dwell on what happened on that trip with a blow-by-blow
scenario. If you want that, then rent 'American Pie 2'. It was basically
just beach-time, partying and getting drunk. Although, there were a few
moments that I would call memorable, life-changing even for the three of us.

	I guess the first of these life-changing events happened on the third day.
Lance and I decided to go to the beach just so we can get a decent tan. Even
if we do live in Florida, both of us were white as white boys can be. With a
Frisbee, a cooler full of drinks, a big ass beach towel, and two pairs of
really funky shades, we were set of an afternoon of rip-rollicking fun.

	I dug into the cooler and brought out a grape soda while Lance started to
rub some sun tan lotion on himself. After he was done, he passed the bottle
to me and I squirted some. I just hope that Joey didn't make an Ass of
himself on the 'lunch date' that he had today.

	'I love this place. I want to move here and never leave. I could surf all
day and live my life as a beach bum,' I mumbled loud enough just so Lance
can hear me. The beach where we were was about a mile and a half of sand
with beach houses for rent facing it. The ocean was the first time you see
outside and the sunsets are unbelievable. Another thing good about this
beach was it wasn't that well used by the public. It was only in peak season
that would truly fill up. And peaked it was! Beautiful people everywhere.

	'Have you noticed Joey lately? Anything wrong with him?' asked Lance while
I was ogling at one sexy couple that happen to just pass by.

	I placed my focus to him. 'You know something. I think you are the last
person in the group, other than Joey, to ask me that question. And the
answer is yes.' I sipped some of my soda. 'He's having a tough time right
now. More so than his family.'

	'I don't know. When I saw his face at Chrissy's place that morning, I knew
something was up. I just didn't know what it was.' He got a Heineken from
the cooler. Damn, he really must be worried if he voluntarily got alcohol.
'I'm really worried, dude.' Was it me, or did he just read my mind?

	I shrugged. 'He's just trying to figure things out. Don't give yourself an
apoplexy about Joey. You know how happy go lucky he is. He'll survive. He's
Italian. They got Mob connections or something like that. He was probably
trained as a kid to kill with a butter knife.'

	Lance scoffed. 'I don't think Joey is that talented, man. Sure, he's a
great actor. He can charm himself out of a firing squad if he tried. He's
cute, dependable and loyal. He can probably use those, but Mob connections?
Get serious!'

	Something inside of me felt like smirking. 'So, you think Joey is cute?'

	A blush! Maybe there's hope after all. 'Yeah, I do.'

	'And how long have you been thinking of these thoughts about young Mr.
Fatone?'

	'Not long. Maybe about a year or so. Its just I don't really know if its
something to really give attention to.'

	Now it was me who's confused. 'Say what? Care to explain. I didn't quite
understand that.'

	He took a big swig that left about 3/4's of the bottle empty. 'Its just
complicated, that's all. I mean, you know how I am. I never showed any
interest in dating, even that time that Joey wanted to go on a triple date
with all of us and he's date of the week. It's just that I don't really want
to do anything until I'm sure. Honestly, I don't really know if I'm gay or
straight. Never in my life have I felt attraction to anyone. Maybe this
whole thing with Joey is making me see things in a whole new light.'

	Speechless.

	'Hey dude, close your trap. Some flies might move there or something.' I
did as he said. 'Don't be so shocked, Just. It's only a possibility. I'm not
sure of anything yet.'

	Somehow my mind managed to get itself functioning. 'What do you mean that
you aren't sure?'

	'That's just it. I'm not really sure about anything. I never felt anything
towards anyone at all. This thing with Joey just makes me want to gather him
up in a blanket and make sure that he's back to his old self again. Not that
fake 'Barney' happy act that he pulls just to fool people. No, I want to see
for myself if I'm okay with everything.'

	'Then kiss him.'

	Lance spitted out the last of his beer and blushed in my direction. 'Why?'
he sputtered.

	'Because that's the only way for you to know whether you are or you aren't.
Trust me on this one. I really thought it was impossible for me and Brit to
get together. I mean, the self-esteem issues I was thinking about at the
time were at an all-time low. Remember, even if we were the new royalty of
the school, I still thought that I didn't deserve Brit. It took me weeks
until I got up the nerve to tell her and kiss her. Soon enough, we became a
couple and the rest is history.'

	'What you are doing, Lance, is natural. Just don't take too much time
thinking.'

	Lance gazed off to the water, letting what I said sink in. We stayed in
relative silent until the cute couple and some of their friends approached
us.

	'Say? We saw that you have a Frisbee with you when we passed by earlier and
I was wondering if you are willing to play with us?' asked the girl in a
dark blue two piece. The guy with bright orange surfer shorts just politely
smiled.

	I looked to Lance and he nodded. We rose up and I grabbed the yellow
circular piece of plastic. 'Sure. I'm Justin and this is Lance.' We got
introduced to Meghan and Shane and their friends. I tossed it into the air
and the impromptu game commenced. As I started to run in the direction of
the Frisbee, I hear Shane whisper into Lance's ear, 'You're cute!' Oh, how
he blushed at that!


TBC...

	(Other stories by Dane: Mad Season<my baby!>; Love, Words, and
Intentions<my pet project>; and Eventually<Not my best work>)  All these can
be found in Nifty.    :P