Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2001 21:09:26 -0500
From: Sweet Music <sweet_music5@hotmail.com>
Subject: Things Don't Always Turn Out That Way Part3: Sleeping with the Enemy

WooHoo! The Disclaimer! We all love these things. Don't deny it. You know
you do. Okey Dokey, I don't know Nsync or anyone else in this story or
their sexuality. Sorry. If this kind of stuff is illegal to you because
you're either A) Under 18 B) This illegal in your area or C) All of the
above... Don't get caught. Simple ;) And Lastly Please don't steal my work.

On to the main attraction...

Sleeping With the Enemy
By Pandora

	Rehearsals did not go well. Somehow or other I managed to piss
everyone off, except Joey and Justin. Joey had gone into big brother mode
with me and, well, I'm not speaking to Justin. Once, he'd tried to talk to
me. I'd been sitting on the floor drinking my water after one of our run
throughs of the show. He came over and sat down beside me and offered a
soft "hi Lance" before I got up and went and sat with Joey and Wade. Wade
was pissed because I kept missing steps.  But my mind was elsewhere.  I
wasn't in the mood to dance or sing or be around people. I just wanted to
go back to my room and feel sorry for myself. Was that too much to ask? Of
course it was, and that's why JC got pissed. And Chris got pissed because
everyone else was pissed.
	So now I'm here, sitting at the hotel bar, staring into a glass of
vodka, honestly considering having a bottle of Jack Daniels sent up to my
room, so I can go up and drown myself in the warm, bitter amber juice. And
I can forget about everyone. Justin, Joey, Wade, HER, everyone. I want to
be alone to wallow.
	I've been so enthralled by my glass of vodka, I never heard anyone
sit down next to me at the bar. It wasn't until I heard a sweet feminine
voice tell the bartender "I'll have whatever he's having".
Britney. Great. That's all I need. She's not even old enough to be drinking
and here she is, ordering up some hard liquor. The bartender doesn't even
ID her. He just pours the drink and hands it over. She downs it in one
gulp.
	"You ok Lance?" As much as I hate to admit it, I love this girl. As
a friend I mean. She's so kind, and nothing like what everyone makes her
out to be.
	I down my vodka and nod, "Yeah, Brit, I'm fine."
	"You don't look fine." She says, eyeing me carefully.
	"I've just had a bad day." I tell her
	She gives me a sympathetic smile, "I noticed" She lays her hand
over mine, "Its ok Lance. We all have bad days.
	Her voice is a comfort to me. She never tries to hid her accent and
somehow when she talks to me she makes me think of my mama or my sister. I
feel almost at home with her when we talk. She's so understanding. The only
reason I would ever have to hate her is because Justin loves her so
much. But even that couldn't make me hate her. Suddenly, I want to tell her
how Justin's been cheating on her with me. I want to tell her about the
nights he's crept into my room, my bed, and we've had sex. Those stolen
kisses and those encounters that I simply can't forget. But I could never
tell her this. It would hurt her too much.
	She stands and lays a gentle hand on my shoulder. "If you ever need
to talk about anything, you know where to find me."
	I smile up at her, "Thanks sweet cheeks."
	She giggles lightly and kisses me on the cheek, "'Night Lance."
	"'Night Brit." And with that she walks out of the bar. I watch her
walk away and I think about where she's going. Back to him. Where he'll
kiss her, and hold her, and tell her he loves her, and make love to
her. Its just sex with me. He makes love to her. Her, not me. Now, I want
another drink, bad.  I want to be drunk and to be alone. So I flag down the
bartender and ask him to have a bottle of Jack and a bottle of scotch sent
up to my room. He nods and tells me it'll be up shortly. I thank him and
stand to leave. I guess I drank a little more then I thought I did, because
when I stand, the world tilts and I stumble and almost fall. But two strong
hands catch my hips and keep me in place.
	"Woah, you ok Lance?" Wade, that would be Wade's voice. Lord, I
never really noticed how strong Wade's hands really were.
	"Yeah," I tell him, "I guess I just had a little more to drink then
I thought." I laugh uneasily.  His hands are still on my hips and I can
feel his breath fan on my neck. His touch seems to almost burn holes right
through the denim fabric of my jeans. Since when did Wade become so sexy?
	"Let me help you to your room then." He says, easing his arm around
my waist. God, if he only knew what his touch was doing to me. But alcohol
makes everything everyone does turn me on. I'm not going to object to
letting this strong handsome man help me to my room. Of course not. I just
lay my head on his shoulder and pretend I'm drunker then I really am. I'm
getting real good at pretending.
	Gravity. That's the kind of cologne Wade's wearing. I recognize the
spicy, sweet smell as we stand in the elevator, his arm still around my
waist, my head still on his shoulder. And for a moment or two I've almost
forgotten about being broken hearted about Justin. And for a moment or two
I've even imagined it being Wade above me instead of Justin. At least my
heart's stopped screaming at me. Now its just laughing.
	We step off the elevator, Wade's arm still draped around my waist,
the heady scent of his cologne still filling my nose. He walks me down the
hall to my room. When we stop in front of my door I start to pretend that
I'm really drunk now and I'm dead tired.
	"Where's your key, Lance?" He asks me softly.
	"In my pocket" I mumble. Really I just want to see how far he'll go
to "help a friend."
	He takes his arm from around my waist and leans me back against my
door as if I'm some rag doll who can't stand on their own. Somewhere down
the hall I hear a door close, and I'm about to tell Wade which pocket my
key's in but he eases his hand into my front right pocket and my breath
catches in my throat. His hand is so close to my dick I can feel the warmth
from it on me. When he finds that my key isn't in this pocket he tries my
other front pocket. Its not there either.
	Honestly, I think I'm dreaming when I feel his slide his hands into
my back pockets. His strong firm hands are cupping my ass, and... it he
smiling at me? I almost want to laugh at the naked desire in his eyes. He's
so close that I can feel his erection pressing into my hip. He's so close I
could kiss him. And I wonder if his kiss would be as sweet as Justin's. As
gentle as Justin's.
	"Found it." He whispers. But his hands make no move to remove
themselves from my pockets. Those strong, firm, gentle hands are still
cupping my ass, harder then they were before, "Looks like all that dancing
is really starting to pay off," for emphasis he squeezes my butt, "Huh,
Lance?"
	I can only nod. At this very moment, all I'm thinking is what it
would be like to kiss Wade and maybe even to fuck Wade. At this moment, it
just him and I. There's not Justin, except for the one I see over Wade's
shoulder. His baby blue eyes are wide and child like. He almost looks like
he could cry. And is that envy I see in those eyes? Jealousy? Oh, this is
too good. I wonder what he'd do if Wade were to kiss me, or if I were to
kiss Wade. Oh yeah, its payback time Juju.
	I grin almost evilly as I brush my lips over Wade's, my eyes never
leaving Justin's, who's eyes seem to grow wider. I almost think Wade might
deepen our kiss until Justin feels the need to open his damn mouth.
	"Hey, Wade, you still going out with Joe and I?"
	Wade pulls away from my lips, but his hands are still in my
pockets, cupping my ass. He locks eyes with me and gives me an apologetic
smile. Well, at least he's not upset. That's a plus.
	"Yeah, Justin. Just gimme a sec to help Lance into his room." He
reluctantly pulls his hands out of my pockets along with my key. He slides
it into the lock and pushes open the door. I'm done pretending to be
drunk. Now I'm just pissed.
	Wade looks a little surprised when I walk easily into my room, "You
need any..." He starts but I cut him off by placing my finger to his soft,
pouty lips.
	"Go out and have fun with them, Wade. I'm fine." I smile at him
just to prove my point. When he starts to protest I shake my head. Justin's
still watching us. Is he glaring at Wad? Oh man! This is too much. "Go."  I
say.
	Wade just sighs, then offers, "Do you want to come with us?" Justin
looks even more pissed now.
	I've done enough damage for one night, "No, just go, Wade." and I
smile at him again.
	"Ok." He sighs, defeated. He turns to leave but then turns his head
to say something else to me, but I whack him on the as and he smiles again.
	Lord have mercy! If looks could kill, he would have been dead long
ago.  Thank God Joey's going with them or Justin just might beat the shit
out of Wade.
	I smile one last time at Wade, and wink at Justin before closing my
door.  Pressing my ear to the door I listen to hear if Justin will do or
say anything to Wade. But why would he? Its not like I belong to Justin or
I'm dating him or anything. He probably thinks if I get with someone he
won't be able to worm his way back into my bed for a late night fuck. Oh
well. Sucks to be him.
	I start to walk to my bed when the door knocks, or someone knocks
at the door. I guess doors can't really knock, can they? Then I remember
the two bottles of alcohol I ordered. Those two bottles sound great right
now.
	I open the door and I'm immediately greeted by an over eager kid
set to deliver my drinks. Behind him, smiling at me, is Britney. I kinda
figured she'd have left with Justin. The kid knows who I am and begs for an
autograph. Really, I'm surprised he asked, most of our male fans won't just
walk up and ask for autographs.  So I sign the napkin he's holding out to
me, give him a nice tip and a smile and send him on his way. Now its only
me, Britney, Mr. Daniels and Mr. Scotch.
	"That's quite a bit of whiskey for one man, isn't it?" She asks.
	I shrug, "It just sounded good."
	"Mind if I join you?" I don't think I could say no to her if I
wanted to.  She's a lot like Justin in some ways. So, I nod and open the
door wider and let her in. "Thanks." She says quietly.
	Something is bothering her. Its in the way she's walking, the way
her smile is so sad, the way she's hugging herself like she's afraid she's
going to fly out of her own body.
	We walk into the main part of the room. "Have a seat," I say
pointing to the couch along the wall.  She nods.
	I set the two bottles on the table in front of us and sit down next
to her.  Instantly she grabs the unopened bottle of scotch, unscrews the
cap, and takes a giant gulp. Wow, I've never seen her drink like that
before. Now I know something's wrong.
	"Sweetie, are you ok?" I say it as gently as I can. She just stares
into the bottle in her hands.
	"Lance, I need to talk," She looks up at me with large, sad
eyes. "About Justin and I."
	Great. I grab the bottle of Jack off the table. I'm gonna need
this. "OK."  I say, unscrewing the cap "Talk." I take a nice swig of the
warm, amber liquid. She hasn't moved.  She's still staring into that bottle
like it'll answer every question and every prayer she's ever had. I know
that feeling. I've tried to find the answers at the bottom of a bottle
before. The only thing I ever found was a really bad hangover.
	I'm still drinking when she looks back up at me and asks, "Do you
think its considered cheating if its with a person of the same sex?"
	I nearly choke. My heart is beating faster, Oh God, what does she
know?  Does she suspect something?  Ok, I just have to remain calm.
	I wipe my chin and look at her. "Wha, what do you mean?" I stammer,
"You think Justin's cheating on you with another" I gulp "guy?" She shakes
her head and takes another gulp of the scotch. Ok now I'm confused. If she
doesn't think Justin's cheating on her with another guy then... "Brit?" I
say again, "Are you cheating on Justin with another... girl?" I'm trying to
be as gentle as I can.
	Something inside her just broke. She slumps even further down and
her shoulders begin to shake. I feel sorry for her. Even though she's not
making a sound, I know she's crying. Instinctively I pull her into my
arms. Her tears soak my shirt. I smooth back her hair, "Its ok Brit. You
can talk to me." I remember reading an interview someone had done with
her. They asked her which Nsyncer she felt closest to. She'd said me. Last
night I'd hated her because she had the man of my dreams. Tonight, all I
wanted to do is make everything in her world better.
	"God, Lance." Her voice cuts through the silence. "I love her! More
then I could ever love Justin!  She makes me feel so real, so
alive. Nothing like Justin." Justin doesn't make her feel alive? He's one
of the only things in my world that does make me feel real. Even if he
doesn't love and me makes me hurt, he makes me real.
	"I don't even love Justin." Her voice was so quiet I almost didn't
hear her. I think my heart just stopped beating. She doesn't love Justin? I
never would have guessed...  "Please Lance, let me stay with you tonight. I
don't want to face him." She looks up at me with those large, sad eyes
again. She looks so lost so much like a child in my arms.
	I brush a stray piece of her blond hair out of her face and smile
warmly at her. "Of course you can.  Go ahead and take the bed. I'll stay
here on the couch."
	"Thank you so much." She whispers. Her arms tighten around me and
she presses her cheek to my shoulder and I feel her tears begin to fall
again. "What do I tell Justin?" She sobs.
	I feel so sorry for Britney. "What's her name?" I ask softly.
	"Christine." She chokes out between sobs. "I met her in
London. She's so wonderful, Lance. I love her."  Her sobs grow worse.
	"Shh, its ok, Brit." I hold her tighter and smooth back her
hair. Right now, she really needs to sleep.
	After awhile, her sobs begin to subside to tiny hiccups. She's
falling asleep. I pick up her petite form and carry her to the bed. I lay
her down, not even bothering to turn down the comforter. Almost the exact
moment her head hits the pillow, she's out.
	As I lay myself down on the couch to sleep, I think maybe there is
hope for Justin and I. As I fall asleep I realize my heart is still
laughing at me, because the image behind my closed lids isn't Justin for
once. Its Wade.

______________________________________________________________________________

Ohhh, is Lance gonna fall for Wade? Ha! I'm not tellin! You hafta read and
find out. And no Lance is not going to fall madly in love with
Brit-Brit. No, I just wanted to establish a good friendship between the two
even if she does have Justin. That's the irony. See? The whole Wade thing
was insipired by all you lovely people who emailed me asking if someone
else was gonna walk into the picture. Viola! Okey Dokey, As always I love
feedback from my readers so feel free to email me anytime.

Sweet_music5@hotmail.com

Thanks for Reading :) Pandora