Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 18:21:27 +0000
From: Angel1313 <Angel1313@att.net>
Subject: Devotion ch.9

Devotion
Chapter Nine:
Tonight We Dance

Disclaimer: Back again! I don't even think that anyone reads these
anymore. Well, if you *do* then here it is- I don't know/own/have anything
to do with *NSYNC. And yes, I do always use the little star and not an
apostrophe before the "n" in "nsync." =P Go figure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Nine:
Tonight We Dance

	"We're here!" Chris exclaimed, stepping out of the taxi.
	"Finally," Joey said, rolling his eyes. "Took you long enough."
	"I tried to hurry but the old man's legs gave out on him and I
ended up having to carry him the whole way," Lance joked, promptly
receiving a smack from Chris.
	"Hey, weren't you ever taught to respect your elders?" JC
laughed. "Ease up on Chris, Lance."
	"Yeah!" Chris chimed in. After a pause he added, "Hey, why *don't*
you guys treat me more like the elder. Elders in lion prides get all the
women."
	"Because you *don't* get any women?" Justin replied, but only JC
heard. The two began to laugh.
	Lance rolled his eyes at the randomness of the oldest member of
*NSYNC. "And he's not even drunk yet," he muttered.
	Joey laughed. "That's right!" he exclaimed. "The fun is yet to
begin!"
	Justin sighed. There they went, always getting drunk when they went
out to clubs. Justin never joined in; JC wouldn't let him. Not that JC
himself was a particularly heavy drinker. In fact, Justin had only seen him
get *really* drunk once or twice. However, he'd been tipsy on more then one
occasion.
	"Josh," The nineteen year-old whispered as they entered the
club. "Would you do me a favor tonight?"
	JC turned to the young man next to him. "Sure, Curly. Anything," he
responded immediately, looking at his friend with concern.
	Justin smiled. "It's nothing too serious, don't worry. It's just
that I don't want you to-"
	The blonde was cut off by a burly looking bouncer, who announced,
"All right, you're in. Right this way, please."
	"What's with the special treatment," JC asked, turning away from
Justin. "I thought we were just going to hang out at the bar and stuff."
	"Joey decided that we should go VIP," Lance explained.
	"Oh," JC said. "Cool."
	Justin decided that he'd just have to talk to JC after they got
into the VIP section. He was going to ask the twenty-four year-old to not
drink that night, or to at least limit himself to one or two alcoholic
drinks. Preferably one. It wasn't that JC couldn't hold his liquor, it was
just that with what he usually drank at clubs, it was defiantly the fewer
the better.
	Justin smiled a little. He probably knew JC's limits better then JC
did. Then again, it was probably only because he was the only one sober
enough to remember stuff like that, when it happened.
	"So guys," Lance began as the five of them sat down in a booth
together. "What do ya'll wanna do first?"
	"Let's get some drinks!" Joey exclaimed.
	"I think I'm gonna hit the dance floor," JC stated at the same
time.
	/At least he's not going straight to the liquor like Joey,/ Justin
thought with a sigh. He was staring at the table disapprovingly until he
felt someone tugging on his arm.
	"C'mon, Curly," JC urged, pulling his friend out of the
booth. "You're coming with me to the dance floor `cause there's no way I'm
letting you stay here and order drinks with Joey," the older man laughed.
	Justin smiled at the brunette. "I'd love to dance with you, Josh,"
he insisted. "You don't need to drag me!"
	JC immediately dropped the blonde's arm, his cheeks flushing
slightly. "Sorry," he apologized quickly. "You were just in your own world
there, staring at the table or something, and-"
	Justin laughed again and placed a hand on the older man's
shoulder. "It's all right, Josh," he said, giving his friend a reassuring
smile.
	JC relaxed and returned Justin's smile. He didn't know why he was
so nervous. /Maybe it's because he said he'd love to dance *with you,*/ A
voice in the back of the brunette's mind answered. JC quickly pushed the
thought from his head. Justin was straight and he had to learn to deal with
it. Making a big deal out of things like that was only going to make things
more difficult for the twenty-four year old.
	"Hey, before you go, what do you guys want to drink?" Joey asked
quickly.
	"Oh, I'd like a rum and coke to start the evening off," JC replied.
	"Me, too," Justin tried.
	Joey was about to agree, but JC shook his head. "Make that a plain
coke," Justin said with a sigh. Joey just laughed.
	"Come get us when the drinks arrive," JC yelled over his shoulder
as he headed to the dance floor with his best friend.
	"Sure thing," Joey called back, heading over to the bar to place
the orders.

	JC and Justin made their way over to the dance floor. "C'mon," JC
said, taking Justin's hand. The nineteen year-old was surprised, but he let
the brunette lead him to the center of the crowd.
	Once they were surrounded by people swaying every which way to the
music, JC dropped the younger man's hand. Justin frowned a bit, despite
himself.
	This went unnoticed by JC, who had been turned away, looking at
something else at the moment. When he looked back, he saw a smile on the
blonde's angelic face.
	"So, you gonna dance, or are you just gonna stand there?" Justin
teased the older man, shoving his shoulder playfully.
	JC smiled and said, "You're not doing much dancing there yourself,
Curly."
	The two laughed together before beginning to sway along with the
rhythm of the song playing. As they got more into the dance, JC decided to
be a little bold. He timidly reached out a hand and placed it gently on
Justin's hip, causing them to move together.
	Justin glanced down at JC's hand before meeting the older man's
eyes. JC looked slightly nervous. The blonde smiled widely at him, and was
quickly rewarded by a returning smile. The two continued to dance at the
same distance, never skipping a beat. Inwardly, however, Justin was
bouncing around from the energy JC's touch filled him with.
	/I can't believe we're actually dancing together!!/ Justin thought
excitedly. He was staring at JC's deep blue eyes when the older man turned
his head towards Justin's own. Their eyes locked, and the continued to
dance subconsciously, neither one noticing anything but the other person.
	Suddenly the music slowed down. His gaze unwavering, JC gently
pulled Justin to him. Justin sighed in bliss as their bodies pressed
together. Sliding his arms around JC's neck, Justin gave the brunette a
quick hug, which was returned by the older man. Justin smiled happily as he
enjoyed the feeling of his best friend's arms around his waist. The two
began to rock back and forth gently to the soft melody of the ballad.
	JC smiled to himself. With the smoke and dim lights of the club no
one would be able to tell who they were. Or that it was two guys dancing,
for that matter. Suddenly, the brunette was filled with sadness. Yes,
Justin was dancing with him, and yes it felt so *right,* but when it came
down to it, that didn't really matter much. Justin was still straight.
	/Maybe he's just humoring me,/ JC thought sadly to himself.
	"Just," he whispered, keeping his voice soft so as to not ruin the
moment. "Thank you."
	"It's my pleasure, believe me," Justin murmured back, but his voice
was swallowed up by the noise around the two as the song changed once again
to a fast-paced dance song.
	The two quickly broke apart. More accurately, JC abruptly pulled
away. Having not heard Justin's response, he took what he thought to be a
lack thereof as a negative sign. He knew that he had read too much into the
dance. Inwardly cursing himself, the brunette muttered, "Let's go see if
Joey got the drinks yet."
	As JC was weaving through the crowd, Justin stood quietly where he
was, tears springing forth unbidden to his bright blue eyes. "But you asked
Joey to come get us," he whispered to the retreating back of his best
friend. /I *knew* he wasn't attracted to me,/ the nineteen year-old thought
glumly. /Why do I keep setting myself up for these let downs?/ Taking a
deep, shuddering breath, Justin finally set off after JC.

	"Yep, the drinks just arrived. In fact, I just sent Lance to go get
you," Joey explained, handing a drink to JC. "I don't know if it's the one
with rum or not, but it's defiantly a coke, so you and Just can work that
one out," he added.
	JC nodded his thanks before taking the drink. He took a sip. "It's
defiantly the plain coke," he announced.
	Just then, Lance returned to the table with Justin in toe. Lance
looked concerned, and Justin seemed to be a bit down. Joey noted this to
himself before smiling and offering greetings to the two.
	JC turned to the pair and held out the coke to the younger of the
two. "Here, this is yours Justin," he explained.
	Justin took the drink from his friend's out-stretched hand. "How do
you know?" He asked, taking a sip.
	"I had a sip myself," the older man explained.
	Justin smiled. /So he used the straw?/ he thought, giggling a bit
at how childish he was being. JC smiled back at him, glad to see his friend
happy. Lance and Joey both looked a bit relieved.
	"Say," JC began, moving to sit down at the booth. "What happened to
Chris?"
	"He's off dancing," Lance explained. "Some girl came over and asked
him, so he went."
	"Yeah," Joey chimed in. "She was hot, too."
	"I think you've had too much to drink, Joe. She was nasty!" Lance
exclaimed with a laugh.
	"Yeah right," Joey retorted. "You're just jealous of Chris."
	Lance laughed again, but this time it had a hollow ring to it. JC
glanced at Justin, who had slid into the booth beside him. The teen, who
had already been looking at his friend, simply shrugged before turning to
look at Lance.
	"You okay, man?" JC asked Lance, looking at the younger man with
concern. Justin nodded to explain that he wanted to know as well, and Lance
shot them both a sad smile.
	"I'm fine," he claimed. JC and Justin exchanged skeptical looks, so
Lance laughed lightly. "Really," he added, trying to sound convincing.
	Justin opened his mouth to protest, but JC leaned over to him so
his mouth was right next to the younger man's ear. "Let it go for now,
Curly," the brunette whispered, his breath hot on Justin's neck. Justin
blushed and completely forgot what he was going to say to Lance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know it's sort of an odd place to end, but I needed to have a different
chapter for the rest of the night....Don't ask, it'll make sense later. If
you're still confused (aren't we all?) then feel free to write to me at
Angel1313@att.net Hell, you can write to me even if you're *not* confused!
Thanks!!