Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 18:53:47 -0500
From: J. B. <downlikeastone@msn.com>
Subject: When Its Over Part 6

DISCLAIMER: I don't know anyone in this story...  Everything that is
happening is pretty much made up.  So be realistic and just enjoy it.  If
you cannot legally or morally read this, then save us all some trouble and
don't, ‘k?  Thanks.

I got quite a bit more feedback from the last two chapters than any of the
previous, which I guess means that I am going in the right direction, so
thank you.  I kinda made an outline of what I want to happen in the story
so most of the next couples chapters will be playing connect the dots,
which should make for some interesting situations, I hope Thanks.  As
always feedback is welcome, downlikeastone@msn.com.

When It's Over -- Part 6

Lance was stretched out over the length of his hotel room bed.  The rise
and fall of his chest was the extent of his movement, except for his mind,
which was running at full speed.  Jody had left shortly after their first
kiss.  It was clear he had no plans of screwing this up, and taking slow
seemed to be a good idea to Lance.

When Lance thought back to that kiss he could feel his face flush a little.
It had taken him by surprise.  He knew when Jody came up behind what he was
going to do, but he hadn't expected Jody to be so shy about it, and so
gentle.  But now, lying in bed alone, he wondered if Joey had been right,
if this was what was best for them.  He needed some advice and his mind was
wondering through everyone he knew, and imagined what each one would say.
Joey and Chris would both joke about just sleeping Jody, Josh and Justin
would probably tell him to take it slow.  Josh was the one of the group
that knew Jody the best.  He had spent nearly 2 days alone with him in a
small studio, reading his notebook.

That notebook.  It looked like something out of a bad 80's teen flick.  The
pages were obviously turning yellow, the cover was torn and stained with
god knows what, and the entire thing was creased down the center.  Josh had
said it seemed to hold random thoughts that Jody felt where important for
some reason and had written down.  What Josh had seemed most impressed with
was the fact Jody could take any phrase and almost instantly begins to form
some kind of song around it.  Lance's mind wandered to the entry Jody had
been writing when he had leaned over his shoulder once.  The only line that
was still clear in his mind was "these isolated endeavors..." which is
where Jody had stopped.

He finally gave up the idea of sleep and crawled out of the soft bed.  The
cool air instantly brought goose bumps to his skin.  He looked blankly out
the window he had been standing at earlier.  The dark night outside still
held nothing for him except the occasional reflection form inside his room.
His will finally broke and he reached for his cell phone on the dresser.
As he dialed Josh's number he tried to figure out exactly what time it was
in LA.

***********

Jody hadn't even attempted to go to sleep.  He chose instead to work in his
notebook.  Normally he would have simply written down phrases or ideas, but
tonight there was one that begged to be expanded.  He spent several hours
scribbling out ideas and phrases around the one that had caught his
attention, but most simply were erased a few minutes later.

He went to the bathroom at some point and when he came back the same phrase
still stared at him "these isolated endeavors..." He looked at it blankly
for several minutes; no emotion seemed to register with the phrase.  When
he had written it had seemed very powerful to him, now there was no
strength to it, which in a way brought a new power.

***********

The insistent ringing of his hotel room phone finally woke Jody from sleep.
His notebook was still beside him, and then pen rolled along the sheets as
he forced his body closer to the bedside table.

"Hello."  Jody could hear the grogginess in his voice.

"Jody?  You awake, or should I call back?"  It was Josh.  Why was Josh
calling?

"Josh, no, I'm fine.  What's up?"

"You sure, cause I can call back..."

"Josh, you called for a reason, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well?"

"Oh.  I just called to congratulate you.  I talked to Lance last night and
he told me the good news."

"Thanks, I was pleasantly surprised."  He absently wondered how much Lance
had told him, and what he was being congratulated on.

"You are asleep."

"No, my mind just doesn't function very well until I have caffeine."

"I don't mean to seem imposing or anything, but have you thought about
producers?  I mean, I have some experience, and you demo seemed to come out
pretty well."

"Josh, did you call to see if I would let you produce my album?"

"Yeah."

"Shit.  I figured I would have to call and beg you."  Jody had planned on
asking Josh to at least help with it.  They had worked really well together
last time and it just felt right.

"No Shit!"

"No shit."  Jody was a good spirits.  He now had a record contract, and
awesome manager/boyfriend (?) and a producer.  Now all he needed was some
studio time, and to write songs.

They talked for a few minutes before Jody finally admitted he really did
need to shower if he was going to be ready in time to catch his plane.  No
sooner did he hang up the phone than there was a knock at the door.  "Well,
shit."  Jody said under his breath as he forced himself to the door.  When
he looked through the peephole he saw Lance standing in the hall with a
very large room service cart.

"I brought food, we have business to talk about before we leave."  Lance
had said it as soon as Jody opened the door and hadn't left time for a
response before pushing the cart past Jody into the room.  On his way past
he hesitated for a moment beside Jody, it was clear he felt uncomfortable.
Jody on the other hand, partially out of gratefulness when he saw the large
pot of coffee on the cart, and part to make it easier had leaned over to
Lance and kissed him lightly on the cheek.  Lance had turned to meet his
lips, but Jody moved in turn to avoid making contact.

Confusion past quickly over Lance's face until Jody grinned slightly and
his face flushed a little.  "I haven't had the chance to brush my teeth
yet, and I'm betting my breath isn't real pleasant."  He casually went into
the bathroom and searched out his toothbrush.  As he brushed Lance set up
breakfast on the table in the center of the room.

When Jody returned the entire table was covered in pastries and various
other breakfast food.  "I didn't know what you liked so I got one of just
about everything."  Lance blushed -- he looked cute when he blushed -- and
began to pile a bagel with cream cheese.

"Question."

"Shoot."

"When do you think I could get into the studio?"  He asked the question
without looking up from the cup of coffee he had just poured for himself.
The hot bitter liquid felt good going down his throat.

"Anxious?"

"Curious."

"Well, that is part of what I wanted to talk to you about."  Lance sat in a
chair and motioned for Jody to sit in the on across from him.  "Trent said
he could have in his studios next week if you wanted."

"We have to see what the producer's schedule is like."

"Have some one in mind?"

"I had some one call this morning and ask to do it."  A grin spread over
Jody's face when he realized Lance probably already knew.

"Who?"  Sincere confusion.

"Josh."

"Really?  I didn't figure he would ask this soon.  He said something about
waiting to see if you had some one picked out already."

"Yeah, well, I did have him in mind, he's good in the studio."

"By the way, he can be here next week as well.  So if you think you're
ready we can do this while he and I can be here."

"Are you still going back to Orlando today?"

"Yeah, I have some things to deal with, especially if I am going to be here
while you record an album.  That takes time."

"I don't know, with me and Josh doing it...." They both laughed.  Jody
realized that during the entire conversation he was either looking at his
coffee trying not to spill it or staring at Lance.

"True, you think you're ready?"  He was sticking to business - which Jody
didn't really want to deal with.

"I will be."

Their conversation floated to schedules.  They had a two-month window.
Then Nsync had planned another tour, which would take away his manager and
producer.  It also would take away his new romantic interest.  None of this
sounded pleasant to Jody.  He would also have to tour and start doing
publicity soon, which sounded almost as bad.

"Are you planning on staying here until we can start?  I rented a small
house for the three of us while we're in town so we don't have to deal with
hotel rooms the whole time.  You could go ahead and move in if you want."

"I take it you thought I would say yes to Josh?"

"I figured."

"I guess I can move in.  I don't really want to go back home right now, so
unless you have a better idea..."

"Well, let me see.  You could go home, stay here in New Orleans, or you
could go to Orlando with me for a few days."

"Want some company or something?"  Jody was kidding; the idea had been
floating around in his head, right behind the ideas of how to make Lance
stay here with him.

"Yeah, besides I think the rest of the guys want to spend some time with
you.  You know, since me and Josh spend so much time around you."

"Yeah.  I'm sorry, but I have to ask this.  Do they know about last night?
About us?"

"I think they're planning a celebration in our honor."

"I should have guessed that.  Justin and Brittany seemed damn determined we
were going to get together."

"I'm sorry about that.  They shouldn't have gotten involved.  It's just
that I had just come out to them, like ten minutes before they came up to
see you, and they were just trying to do what would make me happy."

"It's ok.  It's nice to know there is some one watching out for you when
I'm not around."

"I traded in your plane ticket for the seat next to mine to Orlando."

"Pretty confident I was going huh?"

"Yeah well, I figured I could always charm you into it.  Besides, I haven't
gotten the first date yet, and you already got a kiss."  Jody was surprised
by the comment.  He hadn't even thought of that.  They had never officially
been out on a date.

"When is our plane?"

"In about three hours."

"Jesus, I haven't packed."

"We can do that after breakfast."  Lance leaned back in his chair.  He
watched Jody sip his coffee and stare out the window.  He looked good,
especially for some one who just rolled out of bed.  He had a pair of black
Adidas basketball shorts on, which accented his small hips.  His small
silver glasses always struck Lance as strange.  Jody never wore them in
public unless he was trying to hide from fans, or if he felt bad.  He
normally wore contacts -- "I was always told my eyes were my best feature,
makes you feel bad when your eyes are the only thing people notice about
you."  He had told Lance that one night as they worked over some business
contracts.  Jody's eyes had gotten tired and he had taken out the contacts
in exchange for the more comfortable glasses.

It had been the first time Lance had ever seen him with his glasses on.
Even when he had arrived at Jody's room when they officially met that first
morning he had already put in his contacts.  The small silver frames
contrasted nicely with the long chestnut brown hair that hung over his
face.


Several hours later in the airport VIP room Jody was typing away on his
notebook computer lost in thought.  Lance was pretending to read a
magazine, remembering to turn the pages every now and then.  His mind was
wandering again, running through several scenarios of what could happen
when they arrived in Orlando.  He imagined the guy's response, and how Jody
would in turn respond to them.  Josh knew Jody and liked him.  The rest of
the guys didn't trust him -- there was still a grudge.

"Quit worrying, I promise not to embarrass you in front of your friends."
Jody's voice had startled Lance.  Jody hadn't even looked up from his
computer screen, though there was a small grin etched on his face.

"I know you won't, I more worried about what they'll do."  He sighed.  They
had talked about the rest of the group's feelings towards him before.

"They will be nice to me, even try to be friends with me.  They love you
too much to do anything else.  And if they aren't nice and friendly, I'll
just have to charm them."  Lance laughed nervously.  He trusted his friends
and knew there was no reason to worry, but still he had a knot the size of
Texas in his stomach.  Jody looked up finally, with an odd look in his
eyes.  Lance could tell he wanted to say something but wasn't sure if it
was appropriate.  Suddenly Jody closed the computer and leaned closer to
Lance.

"I have to ask you something."

"Ok."

"Early you said you had just recently come about to the guys."

"Yeah."

"What about everyone else?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean - if I meet your mom or something, am I going to be the boyfriend,
the client, or the friend?"

"I doubt you will meet my parents, or any of my family."

"Why?"  A robotic voice came over the speakers, announcing that their plane
was finally boarding.  Lance got up and headed towards the gate without
answering Jody's question.  Jody followed, it was obvious Lance didn't want
to talk about it, and he wasn't about to push the subject.