Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 21:36:33 EST
From: SweetAngel472023@aol.com
Subject: 'A Second Chance'  Chapter 12

'A Second Chance'
Chapter 12

Disclaimer: blah blah blah. All the usual stuff about this being nothing but
fiction and that the members of the Backstreet Boys and N*SYNC aren't
actually gay -- you know what I mean, right? Let's just pretend I said
that. And if you are underage or homophobic, please do us all a favor and
leave.

I'm so sorry about the lateness of this chapter. But yes, I have an excuse. I
had the worst case of writer's block and I did the one thing that makes it
even worse: I put off writing. So again, I apologize and I hope you can find
it in your heart to forgive me ::grin::
Anyway, enjoy!
J


    Justin tiptoed down the hallway, made a few turns, and stopped in front
of the service elevator. With a quick look around, he pressed the button next
to the arrow that pointed down and impatiently waited for the elevator. He
had only slipped away like this once before, and he was considerably nervous.
A smile spread over his face as he remembered that little episode. It was
shortly after his sixteenth birthday, that Joey decided it was time for
Justin to have some fun. So Joey had dragged him off to a club one night.
That was the first and last time Justin had gotten drunk. It was also the
first time he had seen a naked women. Even though he hadn't enjoyed that too
much, and he could've done without the hangover the next morning, it had
still been fun. A loud ring that signaled the elevator's arrival brought him
back into reality and he quickly entered before one of his bandmates found
him standing in the hallway.
    Sitting in the taxi, he congratulated himself for making it out of the
hotel without getting noticed. And he had to smile yet again when he realized
that most people didn't have to worry about not getting noticed when leaving
a hotel. He on the other hand was happy when the police didn't get involved.
He looked out the window and brought his mind to the original reason for
running away like this. With Britney's help, he had come up with an ingenious
plan, and he couldn't wait to so Nick's face when he found out about this
little trip. Justin still couldn't believe that he was going to do this.

    AJ was standing in the bathroom, drying his hair off with a towel. It was
blonde now. After all that had been happening he just felt like a change. He
reached for a comb and worked through the knots that had formed throughout
the dyeing process. He was so lost in this thoughts that he didn't notice
when JC entered the bathroom until the other man's face appeared next to AJ's
on the mirror. Surprised, AJ turned around and looked at JC.
    "Nice hair." JC complimented. AJ nodded.
    "Thanx." They hadn't talked much since the incident the other day. In
fact, they had pretty much ignored each other. Neither of them quite knew
what to make of that kiss and what it meant for them. JC needed to come to
terms with his sexuality before he could even sort out his feelings for AJ,
and AJ had to figure out what he still felt for Nick before he could admit to
himself that he was attracted to JC. This situation was more than a little
complicated and neither of them knew how to handle it. It was JC who finally
broke the silence.
    "I don't know what's going on, but I think we need to talk about it." He
offered. AJ returned his attention to his hair, occasionally glancing at JC's
reflection in the mirror. He took a deep breath.
    "Listen, there's not much I can say. But I can tell you the two things I
am sure about. One, yes I'm gay. Two, yes I'm attracted to you. But there's
more to it and I can't talk about that." JC looked slightly disappointed.
    "Does the rest have something to do with, well, you know what I mean." JC
asked.
    "Yes. And I'll tell as soon as I am ready to talk about it. Now to you.
What do you have to say?" AJ asked, shifting the conversation away from him.
    "Well, I don't know if Justin told you, but when he first came out to us
I was pretty repulsed by it. But I didn't wanna lose him so I learned to deal
with it. Now I'm ok with the thought of him being gay, but I don't know how I
feel about the thought that I might be." JC explained.
    "Just being attracted to one guy doesn't make you gay. You could be bi.
Or maybe it's just a one-time thing. I've heard those exist." AJ suggested.
    "Yes, I know. But I think these feelings run deeper than just a simple
crush." JC sighed.
    "So where do we go from here? Do we just go with the feeling no matter
where it leads us, or do we stop it before it starts?" AJ asked. JC shrugged
his shoulders.
    "I never thought I'd say this, but I'd rather go with it than ignore it
and always wonder what might have been." JC seemed to be surprised by his own
words.
    "I've always been one to take a chance." AJ said. And that was it. Both
knew that this could lead to a lot of problems, but their feelings were too
strong to ignore. JC got up slowly and walked over to join AJ in front of the
mirror. His hands roamed over AJ's naked, smooth back. He didn't know what he
was doing, he just knew that there was this voice in the back of his head
telling him what to do and he couldn't help but obey. So he let those voices
guide his hands and ignored that other part of his head that was screaming at
him to stop touching another guy.

    The taxi stopped in front of a mall and Justin put on his sunglasses and
hat, then paid the driver and left. He vanished into the mall and walked
around aimlessly for a while until he found what he'd been looking for. He
entered the store and looked around. It certainly felt strange to be in here,
but he knew that it was the right thing. He wanted this more than anything,
and he was sure Nick felt the same. Feeling a bit better, he approached one
of the sales people.
    "Excuse me, do you have engagement rings for men?" He asked, a grin on
his face. The lady looked shocked, but composed herself enough to answer.
    "We sure do. Please follow me, sir." She said.
    "Of course it's not for me. A friend of mine is getting married and she
wants to surprise her boyfriend but she's not sure what kind of ring he'd
like. So she sent me to pick out a few and she'll come later to buy one. It
will be alright to put a few rings aside for her, right?" Justin asked
innocently. Relieved, the lady nodded and led him to a counter where she
displayed several rings. Justin looked at each of them carefully. He wanted
to find the perfect ring for Nick. Britney would come and pick it up later.
At first they had thought of just going together to buy the ring, but that
would most likely have caused even more suspicion. Sometimes, living in the
public eye could be quite a pain.
    Justin had just narrowed his choices to three rings, when his cell phone
went off. Nervously he checked the display, but it wasn't any of the guys. It
was Britney.
    "J, we have a problem." She greeted him.
    "Why? Did they find out I left?" Justin asked. He wouldn't be surprised
if they had.
    "Yes. Nick called me five minutes ago. Lance apparently found out that
you are missing and called Nick. Of course, Nick got worried and called me. I
told him that you are out shopping and he found that rather odd. You might
have to come up with a better excuse. I just thought I'd warn you." Justin
cursed under his breath. He should've known that Lance would call Nick first.
Nick was out with Brian, and Justin had taken that opportunity to buy the
ring. He had been planning to do this for a while, but had been trying to
find a way to leave secretly without Nick noticing. And now it looked like he
was going to have to lie.
    "Listen, J, I have to hang up. My manager is calling on the other line. I
wonder what he wants. Talk to you later." Britney said hastily and hung up.
Justin turned off his phone and instructed the salesperson to keep the rings
in his name till his friend picked them up. He took one last look at the ring
he had selected and smiled. Yes, Nick was going to be mighty surprised.

There we go. Chapter 12. I apologize if it's not that good...I promise I'll
make the next one better.
Take care
j