Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2002 21:17:58 -0400
From: Loki Wright <bwicub@hotmail.com>
Subject: "The Lottery Winner" Chapter 53

Hi everyone...

In order to accommodate people who are asking me about notification lists,
I've finally created an YahooGroup (Gods, Yahoo is like the Borg!)  to do
so: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Dale_writings

******

As always, Gabriella is my main cheerleader.  Mark has also been great.
I've even inspired him!  Check out his story "Blind Date", it's also here
in the Boyband section.

I love email, so feel free to drop me a line with your thoughts on the
story.

My story is hosted on another website.  Here's it is:
http://railwayshoes.net/hosted

It's partway down the site, just look for "Lottery Winner".  There's lots
of other great stories there so check them out.

DISCLAIMER: The names of the people are fictional (well, except for the
members of the group).  This is a fictional story that came right out of my
own mind. I have no knowledge if any member of N Sync are gay or
whatever. That being said, please enjoy the story and remember-- write
me!!! (Especially write me if you're a member of the group! GRIN)

Thanks guys and gals,  Hope you like it.

Dale


--THE LOTTERY WINNER...Ch 53--


Dale smiled.  "Hi Lance.  Good to see you.  How are things?"

"Don't be cute Dale."  Lance glared at Dale, then turned to smile at Mark.
"Hi Mark.  Do you have anything to drink?"

"Sure Lance.  What do you want?"

"Water?"

"No problem.  I'll leave you two alone to talk."  Mark excused himself to
go get something for Lance to drink.  He delayed in the kitchen as long as
he could, then finally headed back into the living room... fully expecting
to find someone either crying or dead.

Instead, Dale and Lance were sitting across from each other, not speaking.
Mark went to Lance and handed him the water.

"Lance, Mark can fill you in.  Mark?  I'm going to head home.  You can come
over later if you want."  Dale got up and was heading towards the door when
Lance said something.

"Joey's there.  He's depressed too."

Dale closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the door.  "I know."

Dale did good.  He didn't feel the tears start until he got behind the
wheel.  His cell phone began ringing when he was about five minutes away
from the house.

"Hello, this is Dale."

"It's me."

Dale felt himself smile.  "Wow Lance.  You don't sound quite so pissy now.
What's wrong?  Didn't you like what Mark told you?"

Lance snorted.  "Okay, I deserve that.  I'm sorry.  I really am."

Dead silence...

"Dale?  Are you there?"

"Yeah blondie, I am.  Apology accepted.  I have to let you go though, I'm
getting ready to pull in to the driveway."

"Dale.  Talk to Joey.  Please.  I hate seeing you guys like this."

"I'll talk to you later."  Dale ended the call, and silently finished the
drive.  He pulled up into the driveway just as Joey came out of the garage.

Joey stood, staring at Dale as the car pulled up.  He didn't say anything
until Dale got out.

"Hi."

"Hey."

They stood there for a few minutes just staring at each other.  Finally
Joey found his voice.  "So, how did your vocal lesson go today?"

"It went okay.  Ted wants me to start thinking of songs to record for the
demo.  I have to come up with 5 songs that 'showcase my range'.  I know one
I want to do, after that I don't know."

"Which one do you want to do?"

Dale started up the walkway to the front door.  "Robbie Williams' song
called 'Rock DJ'.  It's got a good beat and it's a good use of range."

Joey smiled.  "Love that song.  The video's not bad either.  He's kind of
cute.  But he does take more off than I normally like a guy to do."

They made small talk as they walked through the house into the kitchen.
Dale fixed himself a soda and went to sit out on the deck.  A few minutes
later Joey came out.

"You should do something that makes you stand out.  Don't be like everyone
else and do something that's too 'poppy' sounding.  Lance played a demo the
other day that was kind of cool.  A girl redid a Talking Heads song.  It
wasn't half bad."

Dale thoughtfully took a drink.  "How about I do 'Total Eclipse Of The
Heart'?  Not the dance mix that Nikki French did but the original version."
He giggled wickedly as he looked out over the yard.  "I know.  I can do
'These Boots Are Made For Walking'!"

"Those are good choices Dale.  Don't like the song themes, but they're
good.
  You could really do well with them."

Joey turned and walked inside.

"Excuse me?  What do you mean you don't like the themes?"  Dale got up and
followed him.  Joey was sitting on the kitchen counter.

"Joey?"

"Dale, do you realize this is the most we've talked since we got back from
the trip?"

"I know."  Dale walked up to Joey, but didn't hug him.  "Am I being a
bitch?"

Joey snorted.  "If I say yes will you still love me?"  Dale wiped the tear
away that was running down Joey's cheek.  "I fucked up.  I know I did.  I
just hope I didn't lose you because of it."

Dale took Joey's hand, and squeezed it.  "You could never lose me.  No
matter how insane either of us act."  Dale leaned in and gave Joey a quick
kiss on the lips.  "I have to work this out for myself though... can you
respect that and give me time?"

Joey didn't say anything, just nodded.  After a few minutes he spoke.  "So,
where are you going to go cut your demo?"

"I don't know yet.  I have to figure out the songs then go find the karaoke
tracks to back them."

"Karaoke?  No way."  Joey jumped down from the counter and went to the
phone.  He smiled at Dale and dialed a number.  "Johnny?  It's Joey.  I
have a favor to ask."  Joey walked into the other room, leaving Dale alone
in the kitchen.  He refreshed his and Joey's drinks and went to the living
room.  Joey was just finishing up the conversation.

"Okay Dale, you're all set."

Dale smiled as he handed Joey the drink.  "All set for what?"

"When you get ready to do your demo the band will play the music."

Dale sat down.  "The band?  Your touring band?"

"Yep.  I want you to have only the best.  These guys are good.  Before you
argue I'm paying for it."

"No way Joey!  I can't allow that."

Joey walked over and straddled Dale's legs.  "Honey, you should know by now
that I do what I want for those I want to help."  He leaned down and kissed
Dale.  "Face it buddy.  You're stuck with me.  Just make sure you don't
forget me when you get a music career going."

Dale laughed, squeezing Joey's hand.  "I'm not that good."

Joey's smile fell off his face.  "I don't want to ever hear you say that
again.  Dale, you have an incredible voice.  You were given a gift, and I'm
glad you're making use of it."

Joey sat back on the coffee table, and gently ran a finger along Dale's
cheek.  "I can't believe I smacked you.  I never do anything like that."

"Joey.  It's going to take time to get past that.  I know you want me to
just fall into your arms...  but you hit me.  I survived an abusive
relationship, so it affects me a bit more than it probably should."

"But Dale..."

"I know Joey.  You have to realize though, there was a loss of trust.  It
takes time to restore that."

Joey wiped a tear from his eye as he let out a sigh.  "What can I do?"

Dale stared at Joey for a few minutes, not saying a word.  Finally he went
up to Joey and took his hand.  "Come with me."

Joey let Dale lead him from the kitchen, wondering where they were going.

"Close your eyes Joe."  Joey closed his eyes, knowing that Dale wouldn't do
anything to hurt him.  He stepped when Dale told him to, and turned where
Dale told him to turn.

"Okay Joey, open your eyes."

Joey smiled as he opened them.  "We're in the bedroom."

Dale let go of Joey's hand and sat on the bed.  "Joey, will you sleep with
me?  I don't mean sex...  just sleep.  Because I need your arms around me
now."  The tears started falling from Dale's eyes, and he didn't care.

Joey didn't hesitate.  He walked around the bed and crawled behind Dale.
Dale slid onto his side, and Joey put his arm over Dale, pulling him back
into his arms.

"Shhh.  It's okay baby.  I'm here."  Dale's cell phone started ringing, but
Joey ignored it.  Dale cried himself out and fell asleep, Joey protecting
him in his arms.  A little while later, Joey fell asleep.

Joey woke up a few hours later and lay there for a bit watching Dale sleep.
Dale abruptly opened his eyes and stared at him.

"Hi Dale."

Dale smiled.  "Hey."

"Your phone rang earlier."

Dale was stretching as he got out of bed.  "It did?  Okay."  He pulled open
the phone and checked the voicemail.  He giggled as he finished and shut
off the phone.  "It was Lance.  He's upset."

"What'd you do?"

"He was mad at me for being mad at you... so I had Mark tell him what
happened on the cruise."

Joey stopped in his tracks.  "Mark knows?"  He tried to sound nonchalant as
he asked the question, but failed.

Dale shrugged.  "Mark caught me at a weak moment.  We'd just left practice
and I was feeling a bit weak.  He thought it was funny."

Joey laughed.  "Figures.  What'd Lance say?"

"He apologized for being shitty to me.  He tried talking to me just before
I pulled up, but I wouldn't let him.  That was one of his 'where are you
I'm worried' calls."

"Ah yes... I know them well.  You should call him back.  Are you hungry?  I
can order a pizza or something."

Dale smiled at Joey.  "That sounds good.  Whatever kind you want to get is
fine with me."  Dale dialed Lance's number on his cell while Joey went
downstairs to place an order for pizza to get delivered.

"Hello?"

"Lance?  It's Dale."

"Thank god!  Dale, where are you?"

"Um.  At the house.  Why?"

"I was worried when you wouldn't talk to me earlier."

"Lance.  Sometimes I just don't feel like talking.  Now if there's nothing
else Joey and I are getting pizza delivered."

"You two are talking?  Dale I'm so glad."

"Hey Lance where are you anyway?"

"Oh, um... I'm still at Mark's."

"Oh.  So what're you up to?"

"What?  Up to?  Nothing.  Why?"

Dale laughed.  "Geez Lance, if I didn't know better I'd say you sound
guilty about something."

Dead silence on the phone.

"Okay Lance, I'm out of here.  Say hi to Mark for me."

"Will do Dale.  Bye for now."  Lance hung up the phone and looked at Mark.
He leaned in and placed a kiss on his lips.  "Dale says hi."

Mark stretched out to grab his pants, which had been thrown over the back
of the couch.  "Oh, um.  Okay... thanks."

"So what're you doing tonight Mark?"

Mark was distinctly uneasy.  "Tonight?  Um, I don't know... why?"

"Well, Chris won't be back in town for another few days, do you want to get
together and do something?"  Lance ran his hand up Mark's arm, gently
squeezing it at the bicep.

"I don't know.  Give me a call in a few hours."

Lance let himself out of the house.  As soon as the door closed behind him
Mark went and sat on the couch.

"Great... now what?"


"I don't care how often I see that movie, I still love it."  Dale stretched
languidly as he got up from lying on the floor.  "You wanna watch Two now?"

Joey hit stop on the DVD player.  "Gotta love the classics.  Superman
definitely is a must see.  Hey, did I tell you I met Christopher Reeve?
Met him and his wife at a charity event a few years ago."

Dale grinned.  "I remember seeing the pic.  I thought it was great you got
to meet the man who played a character so dear to you."

"Aw... you were thinking of me even then.  Hey, you want me to go heat up
the pizza?  There's a couple of slices left."

"Sure.  Can you get me some more wine?"  Dale held his glass out for Joey
and went to swap out the DVD in the player.

"Dale?  Can you come give me a hand in the kitchen?  I need a couple of
extra hands."

Dale giggled as he walked into the other room.  "What do you need me to
carry?"

"Can you bring the wine and the bottle?"

Dale arched his eyebrow.  "A whole new bottle?  You trying to get me drunk
Mister Fatone?"

Joey grinned and leaned into Dale.  "Well duh."  Joey softly kissed Dale,
then headed back out to the living room.

Halfway through the movie Dale began nodding off on Joey.  The fingers on
Joey's left hand were softly playing with Dale's hair.  "Baby, you want to
head to bed?"

Dale smiled as he looked at Joey.  "Nah, I'm comfortable here.  You make a
great pillow."

Joey pretended to pout.  "Is that all I'm good for?"

Dale propped himself up on his shoulder to look at Joey.  He didn't say
anything for a few minutes.  "You're good for a couple of other things."
He leaned in and softly kissed Joey on the lips.  Breaking the kiss he
giggled.  "A racket up the ass... you're too twisted for words."  Dale
kissed Joey again, and slipped his tongue between Joey's lips.  He broke
the kiss just as Joey began getting into it.  "Okay, time to finish the
movie."

Shortly after that, the movie ended.  Joey cleaned up as Dale shut the
house down for the night.  As they crawled into bed, Joey hesitantly
wrapped his arms around Dale.  He smiled as Dale pulled him tight.

"Dale, do you think I can go with you to your lesson tomorrow?"

Dale grinned as he pulled Joey tight, kissing him.  "I'd like that.  Mark
probably has better things to do anyway."


"Oh hell yeah... oh shit.  HERE IT COMES!
AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"  Mark screamed as the cum shot out of
him... and down Lance's throat.

After a couple of noisy swallows, Lance came up for air.  "Damn that was
nice."  Lance threw himself on the bed next to Mark.  "I'm glad you were
home tonight.  I needed this."

Mark turned onto his side, facing Lance.  "So, when does Chris get back in
town?"

"Oh he comes back tomorrow.  We're supposed to do a couple of interviews
and then be free in the afternoon.  I don't know what he'll want to do
yet."

Mark just grunted, not saying a word.  Lance looked at his watch, then got
out of the bed to get dressed.  "I should get going, supposed to give
FreeLance a call tomorrow to go over some stuff on my schedule."  He turned
to Mark with a gleam in his eye.  "Quickie for the road?"

"You should get going, don't want to miss your call."

"HHmm... you're probably right.  Okay, I'm out of here.  Talk to you
later."  Lance leaned in and gave Mark a passionate kiss, then let himself
out of the house.

Mark tried sleeping... but sleep didn't come easily.



BEEPBEEPBEEP BEEPBEEPBEEP

Joey cracked an eyelid.  He swung his arm around and turned the alarm off.
He started falling asleep when he felt Dale move in front of him.  Joey
smiled as Dale murmured quietly and snuggled back into Joey's body heat.

"What time is it?"

Joey glanced at the clock.  "It's eight o'clock.  What time is your vocal
work today?"

Dale turned over and moved into Joey's arms.  "He wants me there at
eleven."
  Dale grinned as he kissed Joey.  "This is nice.  I've missed this the
past few weeks."

Joey laughed as he hugged Dale.  "So does this mean I'm forgiven?"

"I dunno yet, let me think about it while you kiss me some more."  Dale
leaned in and Joey passionately kissed him.

"Baby, I'm sorry I upset you.  I don't know what I was thinking."

Dale stroked Joey's cheek.  "You weren't.  That's part of the reason why I
love you so much.  You don't overanalyze like I do.  So what's on your
agenda for today?"

"You mean besides going with you today?  Nothing really.  Was going to call
Steve and maybe go hang out."  He leaned in and kissed Dale softly.

The two lovers lay in bed, just enjoying being with each other, until Dale
finally crawled out to go shower and get ready for his voice lesson.  Joey
didn't join Dale in the shower, but hopped in as soon as Dale had finished.
Dale went downstairs to fix breakfast while Joey showered.

"How do you want your eggs sugar?"

"Anyway you want to give them to me Dale..." Joey snickered as he went back
to showering.

Dale checked himself in the mirror and absently flicked lint off the shirt.
He whistled as he went downstairs to cook.  He got out a couple of dishes
and began cooking.  By the time Joey came down Dale had a pretty good
spread cooked: toast, scrambled eggs, hash browns and sausage.  Joey
whistled as he walked around the corner and went to kiss Dale.

"Damn Dale, you trying to keep me fat and sassy or something?"

Dale grinned as he kissed Joey and ran a finger along Joey's jawline.
"You're beautiful just the way you are.  I just decided to cook for both of
us.  I hope you like it."  Dale fixed two plates and carried them to the
table.

"What do you want to drink?"

Dale turned around and saw Joey pouring a glass of orange juice.  "Just
water.  Don't want to drink milk, that seems to make me sound funny when I
sing."

Joey said something about the lactic acid causing a buildup on the vocal
chords, and then grinned when he saw the look on Dale's face.  "What?  Just
because I'm pretty doesn't mean I don't know some things.  Contrary to
popular belief Lance isn't the only smart one in the group."  He smiled to
take the sting out of his words, then attacked the breakfast that Dale had
cooked.

Dale stared in wonder at Joey, then went on to finish his breakfast.  Joey
excused himself to make a few phone calls after he finished, Dale hummed to
himself as he cleaned up.  He started the dishwasher and smiled as he felt
Joey wrapping his arms around him.  He leaned back into Joey's body and
groaned as he felt Joey nuzzle his neck.  Joey's left hand slowly worked up
Dale's body and began playing with his nipple while the right hand slid
into his pants.  Joey began kissing the earlobe and Dale felt himself
harden.

"Ohmygod... that feels wonderful."  Dale turned around to kiss Joey, and
Joey pulled back.

"Ready to go?"

Dale glared at him.  "Bitch... that's not nice.  Remind me to get a
headache tonight.  Just let me grab the CDs for backing tracks."  Dale went
into the living room and grabbed a couple of CDs.

Joey just smiled and winked at Dale.  "You love me and you know it.  Come
on cutie, let's go to your vocal lesson."  As they were walking down to the
driveway, Joey said he'd drive.  The two men harmonized as they wove
through traffic.  Joey couldn't help but compliment Dale.  He'd come a long
way in the past few weeks... hell he sounded like he could fit right into
the N'Sync harmonies without any problems.

"You know, Annie was right.  You do have a great voice."  Joey reached over
and squeezed Dale's hand gently.  They sat in silence the rest of the
drive, but it was a good silence.

Ted, Dale's vocal instructor, was just pulling up in front of the compound
when they arrived.

"Hey Dale.  Joey!  Haven't seen you in awhile, how's things?"

"Same ol' Ted, how's things with Tiffany?"

"She's pregnant, so I'm now dealing with the joys of unusual cravings.
Last night it was garlic pickles and chocolate whipped cream."

"Oh my, that's kinky."

Ted blushed.  "So, um... Dale.  You figure out what you want to do on your
demo yet?"

"I've got a couple of ideas.  I brought the CDs so we can try them with the
backing tracks."

"Great!  Come on, let's get going."


Three hours later Dale was on the verge of collapse.  Ted had shot down a
few of Dale's song ideas for the demo... but on the whole it went well.
Dale worked with Ted and Joey and had chosen five songs.  They made
arrangements with the band to come into the studio and the date had been
set for the coming weekend.  The run-throughs of the songs took awhile, and
Ted kept stopping and adjusting harmonics and the rhythms of a couple of
songs so they would sound new and fresh.

"Okay Dale, think that's it for today."  Ted got up and stretched, and
grinned as Dale grabbed a bottle of water and drank most of it.

"Jesus, I'm sore."

Joey laughed.  "Welcome to my world.  You sounded really good though.  What
do you think Ted?  Six months until we hear him on MTV?"

"It depends on how quickly he gets signed."

Dale couldn't help but laugh.  "Guys, shouldn't I worry about recording the
demo and, providing it DOESN'T suck, getting someone to listen to it?"

Ted and Joey exchanged a glance.  "Dale.  You do realize how good you sound
don't you?"

Dale snorted.  "Whatever.

"Dale, get over it.  You have serious potential.  When we record your
tracks in the studio for the demo you'll see.  Okay now, we have to scoot.
Ted, we'll see you soon."  Joey grabbed Dale's arm and pulled him from the
room.

"Bye Ted, see you this weekend!  Dammit Joey where are we going?"

"You'll see."  Joey pulled Dale out to the Acura, and waited to kiss him
until they had the doors shut.  "Oh baby, I can't believe how good you
are."

Dale grinned.  "Well it's not like I don't get enough of hearing you say
THAT."  Dale curled his fingers in Joey's hair and pulled him into a
tighter kiss.

Dale turned on his cell phone, and it beeped that he had three messages.
He began checking them when it began ringing again.

"Hello?"

"Dale, it's Mark.  You at home?"

"Hey Mark, actually no I'm not.  Joey and I just got done with my vocal.
What's up?'

"Can you swing by the house?  I need to talk."  Mark sounded seriously
depressed.

"Hang on a second."  Dale covered the phone with his hand.  "It's Mark.
Can we swing by his place?"

"Sure.  We'll be there in about ten minutes."

"Mark?  Be there in ten.  You okay?"

"No."

*CLICK*


The doorbell rings, and Mark goes to answer it.

"Oh.  Hi Chris.  Come on in."

Chris Kirkpatrick came slowly into Mark's house.  "Hi Mark, how's things?"

"Um, okay.  How're you?"

"Same ol' here.  I am confused about something though."

"Oh?  What's that?"

"Why you slept with Lance."