Date: Thu, 08 Aug 2002 17:04:17 -0400
From: Writer Boy <writerboy69@hotmail.com>
Subject: jc's hitchhiker - part 114

Obligatory warnings and disclaimers:

1) If reading this is in any way illegal where you are or at your age, or
you don't want to read about male/male relationships, go away. You
shouldn't be here.

2) I don't know any of the celebrities in this story, and this story in no
way is meant to imply anything about their sexualities, personalities, or
anything else.  This is a work of pure fiction.

Questions and commentary can be sent to "writerboy69@hotmail.com". I enjoy
constructive criticism, praise, and rational discussion. I do not enjoy
flames, and will not tolerate them.

That said, on with Season 7.

***Jack***

"Josh, this is really nice," I said, looking around again. I'd read about
this restaurant in magazines, had seen people going into it on
Entertainment Tonight, and now I was sitting in it, and people were looking
at me. I wouldn't call it a dream come true, since this wasn't ever the
kind of life I'd looked for, but it was still a nice place, and anyplace
that I shared with Josh was perfect by default. I looked down at my food,
unsure of what was garnish and what was food, since everything was the same
size. This always happened to me when Josh took me somewhere expensive, and
never happened when we hit a Hard Rock or even, God forbid, a McDonalds.

"It's not too public for you, is it?" he asked, looking around. I shook my
head, smiling.  I'd gotten a lot better about being out and about at
celebrity hangouts with him, and smiled, thinking of how nervous I'd been
that night he took me down the red carpet.  Granted, I was nervous for a
bunch of other reasons, too, but I knew Josh would take care of me. "I just
thought with the thing tonight, we'd probably see some other people, and
sometimes it's nice to see them outside of stuff like that. Oh, hey, Mary
J!"

Josh waved across the room, and Mary J. Blige waved back, surprising me.
Josh knew so many people I didn't know he'd met or worked with, but I
realized that they all got to know each other at things like the party
tonight. Even if they hadn't worked together, there was still a definite
famous people club, and they all seemed on a nodding acquaintance with each
other, especially in the recording industry. If it was a club, though, I
was starting to squeak inside, even if it only was by association.  I was
one step above a hanger-on, in most people's eyes, although that was mostly
the people who didn't know me and Josh, and couldn't tell that what we had
was real. Mary grinned widely, waving at both of us again, even though I
wasn't sure how she could see us through her sunglasses, and followed the
maitre de to her table.

"I want to work with her on something," Josh said, smiling at me and at his
plate.  "Maybe for the next album, or for hers. Have you heard her stuff
lately?"

"No, not really," I said, shrugging. "I don't really listen to that kind of
music, although Justin keeps trying to foist it on me, too. Actually, I
think the only time I've heard it is when you play it."

Josh blushed. The last time he had played Mary J. in the house I had ended
up riding him on the couch in the living room.

"I think I'll have someone call her people, and see if we can set something
up," Josh said, and I snickered. He looked up, half amused and half
curious, and his blue eyes sparkled with good humor. If we were in private,
I would have pushed the plates aside a while ago and just jumped on
him. "What?"

"Well, Josh, do you know how you sound?" I asked, shaking my head. I was
smiling, too.  Sometimes his world was just baffling to me, and so far
removed from normal life.  "You're sitting in the same room as her, right
now, but instead of talking to her, you're going to have your people call
her people, and then maybe the two of you will call each other."

Josh laughed along with me, reaching out to rest his hand over mine. I
caught people looking, but didn't care.

"I love you, Jack," he said, staring into my eyes, his blue ones locked on
mine. "There's just a way we do things, kind of a recognized social
order. I'm sure you can understand that."

"Yeah, I get it," I said, thinking of my own background of debutante balls
and holiday parties at the club. There might be different rules here, but
it was the same idea. I giggled again, and Josh squeezed my hand, asking
the question with his face, eyebrows arched gracefully over those
cheekbones, lips stretched in a grin, that adorable little line in the
center of his forehead that I wanted to kiss. "I was just thinking about,
you know, you having your people call Mary's people, and I realized that we
have Chad, which means, more or less, that I have 'people', too. My high
school reunion is going to be such an adventure, what with you, and Andrew,
and maybe Junior, too."

Josh threw back his head, leaning back in his chair laughing, and I laughed
along with him, picturing me sweeping back into the hallowed halls of my
private school with a full celebrity entourage in tow, sunglasses on,
flashbulbs going off, Josh and I with gelled hair in something flashy and
mostly leather. A couple of people looked up at us, maybe wondering what
the joke was, but I didn't really care what they thought.  Josh and I were
comfortable, we were happy, and today, all was right with the world.

"I talked to my mom yesterday," Josh said over dessert. "Her and Dad want
us to come out for a couple weeks after the tour. They're going to do a
family vacation thing, rent a cabin and all that, and they want to know if
we can make it."

"Of course we can," I said. "I love your family. You know they both came
out to see me when I was in Chicago?"

I meant it when I said I loved them. Karen and Roy had swept me up and into
the family within about five minutes of us meeting each other. I'd been
afraid to meet them, and they had been a little awkward meeting me, too,
but they'd reached out and embraced me in the kind of way I'd never really
know a family to be. Since then, they'd been nothing but supportive of Josh
and I, even at times when my own family couldn't be bothered to care. Even
now, Josh had still never met my brother, and our parents had never met
each other, either.

"Yeah," Josh said, nodding. "She said you took them both out to dinner, and
her and my dad were both really proud of your speech. They said you were
witty, intelligent, and really brave, and that I did a damn good job
picking them a son in law."

"Oh," I said, blushing a little. "They told me that, too, actually, but
it's always nice to hear it again. Are Heather and Tyler coming, too?"

"Yeah," Josh answered. "It'll just be the family, for two weeks."

"Sounds wonderful," I said, grinning. I looked back down at my
dessert. Like lunch, I wasn't sure of what to eat and what not to, and
figured that they wouldn't put anything poisonous on the plate. Josh had
ordered the same thing, and when I glanced up, I saw that he was watching
me carefully. "What?"

"I was waiting to see what you would eat," he answered, giggling again. I
snickered, too.  "What the hell are we eating, Jack?"

"I have no idea," I answered. We sat in our chairs, shoulders shaking, and
laughed again.

Later, when lunch was over, we took a car to the airport to pick up Vlada,
one of the other generic bodyguards accompanying us and serving as the
driver. We liked to give Andrew a day off whenever possible, since he
didn't keep hours that were exactly normal traveling with me, and
management provided a horde of bodyguards for the guys to lug around. This
one, who I thought was named Steve, had waited outside the restaurant in
the car while we ate. There was never any mistaking when Vlada got off the
plane. She was always in first class, and the other passengers always
seemed to give her space to walk in. It might have had something to do with
the fact that, no matter where she was, Vlada always walked like she was
coming down a runway, and expected, at any moment, cameras to go off and
flashbulbs to strobe.

"Jacque! Jayzee!" she said brightly, leaning in to kiss us both on the
cheeks as she hugged us. She was wearing some sort of flowing one
shouldered dress that managed to cling to all the right places in spite of
the folds, and her dark red hair, as always, looked immaculate, falling
down around her shoulders. You'd never guess she'd just flown in from Paris
and had been on planes for hours. "Vere is Kreestopher?"

"Golf," Josh answered, smiling. "Justin."

"Ahh," Vlada said, nodding. No one stood between Chris and his golf game. I
felt very short standing between the two of them, Vlada towering over us
both in giant heels that would have crippled a normal person and Josh
naturally a shade taller than I was. "Zo, Jacque, vat's new wiz you?"

As we collected her bags and headed out to the car I told Vlada about where
I'd been traveling and what I'd been doing, and then she started telling us
about her show, and her last couple of shoots. Vlada wasn't a supermodel,
but she was known within her field, and her face was recognized by the
public even if they couldn't always come up with the name that went with
it. She was the kind of person you saw on a magazine cover, or a runway
clip, or in an ad, and you thought, "Oh yeah, it's that girl." Maybe she
wasn't Kate Moss or Cindy Crawford, but she was successful, and basked in a
certain fame of her own. It was all the more baffling why she was with
Chris, since she was like this big, gorgeous amazon and he, while cute
enough, was kind of average, and pretty short, but they cared about each
other very much. It was more a match of personalities, than physical
characteristics, and besides, what went better with rock stars than models?
It was so logical it was almost a cliche.

"Are ve going zoots or casual zis evening?" Vlada asked as we pulled up at
the hotel. I figured she was trying to decide between totally glam and
shabby chic, or something I'd read in Cosmo on the plane.

"Celebrity casual," Josh answered, grinning at me.

"Why can't celebrity casual ever include khakis and a plain old button
down?" I groaned, leaning against him.

"I already picked something out for you," Josh said, squeezing me against
him. I groaned again, and he laughed. "No rags, no sparkles, and no
feathers, Jack. I promise."

"Whatever," I laughed, kissing him.

***Lance***

"Does this look ok?" Justin asked, walking into the bedroom from the
bathroom. He was wearing white leather pants, white shoes, and a white
shirt half unbuttoned to show a baby blue tank underneath. Long sleeves and
lots of layers made Justin feel safe, less exposed. He hadn't picked out
any jewelry yet, but Lance was sure he'd throw some kind of giant, but
tight, necklace on. He saw Lance sitting on the bed, tying his shoes, and
jerked to a stop. "Wow."

"What?" Lance asked, glancing up. "Is something wrong with it?"

"No," Justin answered, shaking his head. He swallowed thickly, visibly.
"It's just, you know, not something you usually wear."

Lance looked down at himself, and realized that Justin was right. He'd
thought the same thing at the store, too, when Chad helped him pick it out,
but Chad raved and raved over how perfect it looked, and the salespeople
had all agreed, so he'd bought it. It wasn't really the pants, tight,
patterned jeans, that made the outfit so surprising. It was the shirt,
clinging to him like a second skin. Lance wasn't chiseled and cut like JC
and Justin, but he was definitely muscled, and now, being on tour and
working so hard, sweating off the extra layer that softened his curves a
little, he was defined, and the shirt highlighted it. It wasn't quite
sheer, but was thin enough that you could see the suggestion of his nipples
through it, dark spots capping his chest. The v-neck dipped down to his
breastbone, showing off his neck, and Lance's hand rose to fidget with the
neckline as Justin stared at him.

"Don't," Justin said quietly. "You look good. I was just, you know, I was
surprised."

"That I look good?" Lance asked, smiling. Justin didn't smile back, and
Lance wondered what was wrong.

"No, I'm sorry," Justin said, shaking his head. His throat felt very tight,
suddenly, and he felt a little dizzy. "No. Yes. I, it's just so,
different."

What Justin thought, fleetingly, was that Lance looked hot. It wasn't his
kind of thought.  He didn't feel that way about Lance. He didn't feel that
way about anyone, and he didn't want to, but he especially didn't feel that
way about Lance. Lance was safe.  Lance was soft, and kind, and
caring. Lance wasn't hot. Lance couldn't be hot, not to Justin, because it
might change the way they felt about each other. Justin blinked, shaking
his head a little, feeling unsteady inside. He'd seen Lance in less, slept
next to him every night with Lance just in boxers, but this was different
somehow, and he didn't like that. It felt unsafe, and the room felt very
small suddenly. Justin shook his head again, feeling his eyes drop down
almost involuntarily to stare at Lance's chest as his brain screamed at him
not to, not to look, not to look at Lance that way, not Lance.

"Justin?" Lance asked, seeing his face change, watching the color drain out
of it.

Justin looked as if he wanted to say something, but instead he turned and
ran for the bathroom, arms flailing. Lance jumped up to follow, and heard
Justin vomiting noisily into the toilet, holding the sides, shaking as he
brought up his lunch, and the small dinner he'd shared with Lance here in
the room. Lance dropped down next to him, rubbing his back, holding his
shoulders, reaching for the flusher as Justin's body lurched beneath him.

"Justin?" Lance asked. Had something been wrong with his dinner? "Justin,
are you ok?"

"I'm sorry," Justin choked, reddening, looking away. Lance grabbed some
tissues off the roll and blotted around Justin's mouth, flushing them down
the toilet as well. Water streamed from Justin's eyes, not tears of
sadness, just an involuntary rush of stinging moisture. "I, I, can't, I
don't."

"No, Justin, it's ok," Lance said, pulling him carefully to his feet. "Come
on, let's get you a drink. Let's rinse your mouth out, and get you a drink,
ok?"

"I'm sorry," Justin said again, his voice low and twisted. He was so
embarrassed, but also afraid. He couldn't look at Lance, not after what
he'd just seen, what he'd just thought, even if it was for just a
second. What if he opened his eyes, and Lance still looked so, so unsafe?

"It's ok," Lance said soothingly, walking him over to the sink. "It's ok
Justin. Nothing to be sorry about. Do you feel like you have to do it
again?"

Justin shook his head, eyes tightly closed.

"OK," Lance said, handing him a cup. Justin rinsed out his mouth, spit, and
did it again.  His legs were shaking a little, but Lance's hands on his
shoulders felt gentle, and Lance guided him into the bedroom, stretching
him out on the bed. Lance walked away for a second, and when he came back
he had a cool, damp washcloth, and pressed it carefully to Justin's
forehead. "Is that ok?"

Justin blinked his eyes open finally, and saw Lance's green ones,
concerned, above him.  Justin breathed a sigh of relief. Lance looked like
Lance again, caring, kind, and safe.  This was his Lance, the Lance who
protected him. That other Lance who had been here a second ago was gone,
and Justin felt better already. He couldn't think about Lance that way,
couldn't let himself, because then there wouldn't be anywhere he could go,
anywhere he could run to, that was safe. He closed his eyes, trying to
catch his breath, and Lance folded up the washcloth and laid it over them.

"You just lay there until you feel better, ok?" Lance said quietly,
whispering. He'd eaten the same dinner as Justin, but he felt fine. Then he
realized that it was probably nerves.  Justin was probably afraid to go
out, and holding it inside instead of telling Lance about it. "I'm going to
finish getting ready, unless you don't want to go."

"No, I still want to go," Justin whispered. The washcloth felt cool against
his eyes, and the bed was soft. He concentrated on just breathing in and
out, willing his heart to slow down and stop pounding in his chest.

"Are you sure?" Lance asked, not wanting to push him, or make him feel like
he had to go out. They could stay in, and just send some of the guys. It
would be ok, and the other guys would understand. "We don't have to if
you're nervous, Justin."

"No, I'll be ok," Justin said. "Just finish getting ready, ok? I can do
this, Lance, and I want to. I want to go out again, and see people. I can
do this Lance, ok? I can."

"OK," Lance said, nodding. He turned away, even though Justin couldn't see
him, thinking about how brave Justin was. As he was in the bathroom
finishing his hair he heard a knock at the door. "Justin? It's probably one
of the guys. Do you want me to get it?"

"Please," Justin said softly. "I don't want to get up yet."

"OK," Lance said, casting Justin a worried glance as he crossed through the
suite room to the door. Justin had gotten sick so suddenly, and it bothered
Lance. What if Justin had been worried and anxious all day? He never should
have let him go by himself with Chris for the whole day, and he'd have to
ask Chris later if anything had happened. Justin had said he was fine, and
that he'd had a lot of fun, but what if he'd just been covering, to make
Lance feel better? He opened the door, expecting Chris or JC, and was
surprised to see Chad. "Hey."

"Hey," Chad said, his eyes raking up and down Lance. "Told you that would
look fabulous!"

"Thanks," Lance said, blushing a little. "It's not really me, but hey, we
tried."

"I think it's definitely you," Chad said, waiting expectantly at the door.

"Did you need something?" Lance asked. "Justin isn't feeling well, and we
have to go meet the others in the lobby in a couple minutes."

"Is Justin ok?" Chad asked anxiously, his eyes huge. "He's not sick, is he?
What about the tour? Will you still do the show tomorrow?"

"Oh, yeah, he'll be fine," Lance said quickly. "We'll still be on tomorrow.
He just needs a little rest."

"Oh, ok," Chad said, nodding. He fidgeted nervously, twisting his hands. "I
had, um, a question for you."

"OK," Lance said, waiting.

"I, um, I had a lot of fun, today, with you," Chad stammered, sweat
breaking out on his forehead. "I know you have the show tomorrow, but I was
wondering if, um, if you wanted to, maybe, did you want to grab some lunch
tomorrow? With me?"

Lance blinked in surprise, pausing for a second.

"Sure," he answered finally. "I'm free at noon. Do you want to come here?"

"Yeah! OK!" Chad gushed, letting out a huge breath of relief. "Yeah. Noon.
Tomorrow.  I'll see you right here, tomorrow. At noon."

"OK," Lance said, smiling. He still couldn't believe Chad was so excited
just to hang out with him, but maybe lunch would be fun again. He might
even bring Justin, to cheer him up. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah," Chad said, nodding. "Have fun tonight."

"We will," Lance said, smiling. "Bye, Chad."

In the bedroom, Justin heard the door close and pressed the washcloth back
to his eyes, pretending he hadn't been listening.

***Jack***

"Oh my God," I gushed, unable to stop myself. "I watch your show every
week!  It's like the best hour on television! It's so nice to meet you!"

"Thanks," Jennifer Garner answered, smiling graciously. She was pretty
enthused to meet Josh, so we were having a little mutual admiration cluster
over there by the buffet tables.  "I see you guys on TV a lot, too. I
thought your wedding looked really nice."

"Thanks," I said, nibbling at one of the appetizers on my plate. Usher went
by, smiling and nodding at us both, and we both nodded back, even though I
don't think either of us knew him. "So what's it like doing that much stunt
work? Is it hard?"

"You get used to it," she answered, sampling something from her plate as
well. "I mean, I work with a trainer all the time, and I always come home
with these huge bruises."

"There you are!" Josh said from behind me, sliding an arm around my waist.
"Hi again, Jennifer."

"Hi," she giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. I wondered where her
husband, that guy from "Felicity", was, and if he knew she was shooting
eyes at Josh like that. Then again, everyone shot eyes at him. It was hard
not to. "Jack says he watches my show. Do you watch it with him?"

"Yeah, but I can never follow what's going on," Josh confessed. "I miss an
episode, and I'm lost, and I have to save my questions because Jack only
lets me talk during the commercials."

"Jack!" Jennifer said, laughing.

"Josh, don't tell people that," I said, laughing as well. "They'll think
our marriage is in shambles."

"Not if they see us," he said, kissing me on the cheek. I blushed, and
Jennifer giggled again.

Josh and I were both having a good time, relaxing and being social, and I
decided it had been a good idea to come after all. I had to fly out early
in the morning the day after tomorrow, so I kind of wanted to stay home,
but I also didn't want Josh turning into a big hermit, and he really did
love seeing and talking to people at these things.  I drifted around the
party on his arm in my suede blazer, very comfortable in the classy, low
key outfit Josh had picked out for me, and I stood by his side and watched
as he greeted old friends that he hadn't seen since the wedding. He was
always quick to introduce me to anyone I didn't know, and we hadn't really
been separated for most of the night. None of the people we had talked to
seemed to know exactly what the party was for, either, but they all knew
that MTV was throwing it.

The rest of the guys seemed to be having just as much fun as we were. I saw
Chris and Vlada dancing for a while, and then lost track of them, but
someone said they were over talking to some other models on the far side of
the ballroom. Joey hadn't danced at all, which was fairly typical, but he
was sitting in a booth on the side talking to P Diddy, and some girl was
dancing against his leg, which was odd but kind of cute. Lance and Justin
had been hanging out by the food for a while, and then I saw them talking
to a couple of the guys from O-Town, whose names I could never
remember. Josh was looking pretty hot in a leather jacket that matched my
blazer, with a similar pants and shirt combination underneath, and I
wondered if the two of us were always going to appear together in matching
outfits. It was cute, and it looked good in pictures, but when you actually
thought about it, it was kind of odd. The real surprise for the night,
though, had been Lance showing up to get in the limo in a shirt that left
nothing to the imagination, and which he almost looked embarrassed to
wear. He blushed when we mentioned it, even though he looked damn good in
it, but who was he looking good for?

"Do you mind if I borrow my husband" Josh asked, grinning at Jennifer as he
rested his head on my shoulder. "I feel like dancing, baby."

"No problem," Jennifer said with a little wave of her hand. "I should go
find mine, too. It was nice to meet you guys, and I'm sure I'll see you
around at one of these things again."

"Definitely," Josh said, nodding.

"Nice to meet you, too!" I called, as Josh pulled my little plate out of my
hands and gave it to one of the many circulating waiters. "We should be
nice to her, Josh.  Maybe she can get us a walk on."

"Jack!" he said, laughing.

"What?" I asked, grinning. "My birthday's coming!"

"Come on," he said, pulling on my hands. "I want to dance with you before
you go all Hollywood on me."

"OK," I said, letting him lead me onto the floor.

Dancing with Josh was almost as good as having sex with him, honestly. He
was lithe and graceful, and his whole body moved with the rhythm of
whatever we were listening to. When I danced with Josh, the world narrowed
to just me and him, the feel of his hands on my back and my hips, and the
intense, burning look in his eye. When the song switched to something slow
and grinding, he pulled me against him, leaning in to kiss me as I draped
my arms around his neck, over his shoulders, feeling his chest against mine
and his pelvis grinding against my own. Both of us were half hard, but we
knew better than to go all out in public. Both of us were a little too
modest for that, anyway.

"I should have known if I wanted to find you two I just needed to look on
the dancefloor," we heard from behind us, and I felt ice run down my spine.
Turning, I saw that I had recognized the voice after all, and it wasn't a
terrible dream.

"Kevin!" I blurted, almost gasping, as Josh ground to a halt, paling. Both
of us looked past Kevin, scanning the crowd.

"Guys?" Kevin asked, his face a mixture of surprise and confusion. Normally
we'd be happy to see him, since he was our friend, but normally we wouldn't
be here with Justin.

"Are you by yourself?" I asked, as Josh blurted, "I thought you guys
weren't coming."

"We changed our minds," Kevin said, his eyes darting back and forth between
the two of us. "Guys, what's going on?"

"Who's with you?" Josh asked. "Are all of you here?"

"No, just me, AJ, and Nick," Kevin said.

"Shit!" I hissed, pushing past him. Josh gripped my hand tightly,
following, both of us looking for Justin. Kevin followed.

"We have to get Justin out of here," Josh said firmly, looking around
wildly. "Now."

"They don't have to talk to each other," Kevin said, shaking his
head. "They can stay on opposite sides of the room, for God's sake."

"You don't understand!" I said urgently. Where was Justin? I spotted Chris
and Vlada, and they glanced at us worriedly as they saw how upset Josh and
I were.  "Chris! Nick is here! Where's Justin?"

"Fuck!" Chris hissed, looking around as well. He took Vlada's arm as she
set her drink down. "Go find Joey! He's still over that way!"

"Right!" she said, hurrying off. It was rare to see Vlada less than
composed, but as I watched she actually shoved someone out of the way as
she hurried across the room. We all knew how bad this could be, and we
needed to get Justin out, now, as Josh had said.

"There's Lance!" Chris blurted, pointing. The three of us hurried across
the room, ignoring Kevin, who followed behind us asking again what was
wrong. Chris grabbed Lance's arm, jerking him out of conversation with Nick
Lachey. "Lance!"

"Where's Justin?" Josh asked as Lance blinked at us.

"He went to the bathroom," Lance answered, pointing. We turned as one,
almost knocking Kevin over, and hurried toward the door, Chris forgetting
to let Lance's arm go and Josh still gripping my hand tightly. "What's
wrong?"

"Nick is here," I said, and Lance looked for a second like he would pass
out. I snapped my fingers in front of his face. "Stay with us!"

"Oh my God, oh my God," Lance said, shaking his head.

"It'll be fine," I lied as we tried to move through the crowd. A few people
turned to look at us, but most of them just moved out of the way.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" Kevin asked as I saw Joey
and Vlada heading toward us from the other side of the bathroom.

I flung the bathroom door open, the guys behind me pushing me through, and
felt something snap inside my head. Everything in front of me seemed to
slow down as rage clouded my vision. Nick spun to face us, his eyes wide,
his expression surprised. In front of him, on the floor against the far
wall of the bathroom, Justin was curled into a tiny ball, hiding his face
beneath his arm and shrieking the word "No!" over and over. I didn't stop
to see how he was, or say anything to either of them, as I launched myself
across the room and tackled Nick, my hands closing around his neck.

***

To be continued.