Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2000 14:39:54 EST
From: aCi 2785 <aci_85@hotmail.com>
Subject: Love Interest - Chapter 11

Last time on Chapter 10 of Love Interest -

"I still love ya baby." Josh winked, and kissed Justin gently and quickly
on the lips. As Justin, Josh, Lance, and Brittney turned to pay attention
to where they were walking on the bus. They caught Samantha Mumba sitting
in the living area, her eyes wide open and mouth drooped to the floor.

Justin's own mind raced, she had seen him. Not knowing what to do, Justin
turned his mind to sadness, and soon began to cry. Rushing out of the
area, he ran to his bunk and jumped in. Josh hesitated. He didn't know if
he should explain to Samantha, or if he should run after and comfort
Justin. Deciding it would be better if he settled the situation with
Samantha, he walked casually to the living area.

"Hi, I'm Josh. You must be Samantha." Josh smiled and grabbed a hand that
just wasn't extended for a shake. "I hope you aren't appalled by what you
saw back there Samantha." Josh quickly added.

"You, you can call me Sam." Is all she managed to get out, as she took
into consideration what to say. Sam was not comfortable with the
situation, but she knew she couldn't say anything against it. They were
nice enough to allow her to join the tour, and if she said anything it
could ruin the careers. "Um, no, it's cool. I was just, shocked to say
the least. I mean, you two are close and thats obvious, but I didn't
think you were sleeping together." Samantha let out, and looked at Josh
with a smile.

"Oh, we aren't, we haven't gone that far yet." Josh joked, laughing with
her. "But are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'll get use to it." She smiled again and replied honestly.

"Alright, well then I hope you don't mind, but I have to go and talk to
my boyfriend, I think he's a little upset right now." Josh said frowning,
as he stood and walked to the bunk area. Sliding into the bunk he knew to
be his and Justin's, he rolled right up to the back of Justin. "Babe,
it's okay, Sam's cool with it." Josh kissed the back of his neck, waiting
for Justin to respond.

"Really?" Justin croaked out, his tears subsided slowly.

"Yep, she said she'll get use to it. So now you can meet her." Josh
smiled, and released Justin from his hold.

"Okay." Justin agreed, and wiped away the tears that still remained. As
they headed back towards Samantha it was obvious that Justin had been
crying. And although he didn't want to start off there relationship with
tears, it was hard for him not to, after what he had expected from
Samantha.

"Justin, this is Sam. Sam this is my boyfriend Justin." Josh let them
shake hands, and they both took seats. Josh sitting next to Justin and
wrapping an arm around him.

"I'm really sorry if I hurt you earlier Justin. I didn't mean to get that
look on my face. I was just a little shocked to say the least that you
two were together." Samantha apologized, not wanting to start the
friendship off on a bad foot.

And now Love Interest Chapter 11 -

____________________________________________________________________________

"It's okay, I shouldn't have reacted like I did." Justin mumbled, as Josh
squeezed his body tight, Justin knew he could do better that. "I mean,
I'm sorry too for the way I treated the situation. I shouldn't have ran
away without finding out the real story." Justin replied again, this time
loud enough to be heard.

"No, no, trust me it was my fault. I'm really sorry. Let's just say we
call it even, and forget about this." Sam smiled and put out her pinkie
finger. Justin smiled awkwardly, and moved his out as well, and gave it a
tug. "Great."

"Should we be informed about something?" Joey said as he, Chris, and
Christina walked onto the bus.

"Um, yeah, guys this is Samantha. But she wants us to call her Sam."
Every one nodded at her, waiting to hear an explanation as to why they
had found Justin and her pinkie swearing. "She kinda saw me and Just
kissing." Josh let out, he didn't want to say it, because he knew that
they would be upset with them for letting it get out before even having a
chance to get to know her.

"She what?" Joey spit out, but was caught off guard by a whack to the
head from Christina. Joey rubbed his head sorely, while Christina smiled
at Justin and Josh. She was able to tell that Justin was crying, being
more perceptive to that since she was a girl, and she knew that Justin
probably didn't want to get scolded for it. Chris just walked right
passed the whole group and into his bunk. He was tired of listening to
everything, he had his own problems that he was working on. "Sorry about
that." Joey whispered, knowing that he shouldn't have snapped out about
them getting caught. "As long as she is cool with it, then we don't have
to worry." Joey added, this time loud enough for every one to hear.

"I am, don't worry. To begin with, it was none of my business. And I'm
not one to run and gossip, I don't want a bad reputation when I'm just
starting out." Samantha replied politely, Joey smiled.

"Cool" Joey added, as he and the guys all shook there heads. Brittney and
Christin grabbed Samantha, the guys knew that they were going to tell her
everything that she should know, and they knew it would take a while.
Joey, just shrugged and went to his bunk. Figuring he could catch a nap.
Leaving Lance, Justin, and Josh by themselves in the living area.

"So, what are you two up for today? Or do you want to be alone?" Lance
asked politely, not wanting to interfere if they had other plans.

"I don't know yet, what do you wanna do baby?" Josh asked, applying a
small kiss on his neck.

"Um, I really wanted to see Remembering the Titans. I heard it was really
good." Justin managed to keep his excitement hidden, but he didn't do a
good job of it, as Josh and Lance could both tell it was the only option
they were going to be presented with.

"Alright." Josh agreed, kissing him again on the neck. "You're welcome to
come Lance." Josh offered, waiting for an answer from Lance while he
continiously added kisses to Justin's neck. Justin giggled, as he too
waited for an answer.

"Some how being with you two might make me sick." Lance joked, and
laughed slightly. "But, nah, I think I'm going hang out with Britt today,
see if I can get in on the girl talk in the back." Lance joked again,
and left them to there movie. Josh led the way off the bus, but they were
soon stopped by there security guard Lonnie. Justin loved Lonnie, and
Josh respected him a lot. Lonnie had now become Justin's personal guard,
and Josh knew that when he wasn't around that Lonnie would make sure
nothing happened to Justin. The only problem was, he was still in the
dark of there relationship.

"Where do you two think your going?" Lonnie questioned, before they could
even continue walking.

"Um, we were gonna catch a movie. Ya know, with you since we need a
bodyguard." Josh added in, as he waited for a yes.

"Nope, sorry but management wants you on the bus today. No outside
activities, just sleep and relaxation for the first concert." Lonnie
replied, basically pushing them back on the bus. Once inside he shut the
door, leaving Justin and Josh with only one thing left to do. Relax like
they had been advised too.

"This sucks, I wanted to see that movie so bad." Justin whined, as he
took a seat on Josh's lap. Josh just smiled, and planted a kiss on
Justin's neck.

"We could make a special movie for each other." Josh giggled at his own
words, as he heard Justin laugh too.

"You know I'm not ready for that, plus we are on a tour bus with our
friends." Justin added through his laughter, trying to think for a real
idea. "I know, we could have the PR go rent us some movies."

"Yeah, except he is busy with management. Why don't we just take a nap?"
Josh questioned, waiting for an answer. With a nod, Justin agreed and
they were off to bed. Neither noticing that Chris was watching them from
his bunk the whole time, a look of disgust on his face.

"Inside or the outside?" Josh asked before he climbed into the bed.

"In" Justin shouted, as he jumped up first. Josh climbed in after, and
shut the curtain. Justin snuggled under the covers, and as Josh did the
same, he instinctively leaned into Josh's warm body for comfort. Josh
wrapped his arms around him, and snuggled in for what was sure to be a
nice nap.

____________________________________________________________________________

"I told you about me, so now you tell me about everybody." Samantha
smiled, and waited for them to spill the secrets that they had hinted
towards. Lance had already been asked to leave, so he went to watch some
tv in the living area.

"Um, well me and Lance are dating, we have been for a while actually.
He's a great guy, and really sweet." Brittney voiced the first secret.

"And um, I'm single, but I like the PR, so hands off." Christina laughed,
and watched the other girls laugh as well.

"What about Justin and JC?" Sam asked.

"Well, first things first. Call him Josh, he hates JC unless it is on
stage. But they are serious, even if they have only been dating about 5
days." Brittney laughed, it was only the realization that they had only
been dating for less then a week, but they seemed the most serious out of
everyone. "It's really sweet, cuz Josh has always liked Justin, and we
all knew he was gay. Justin even knew that Josh liked him, and it didn't
even effect there relationship. They were still really close, and without
Josh I don't think Justin could live." Before Brittney could continue,
Christina interrupted.

"Yeah, but Josh couldn't live without Justin either, they need each
other."

"That too." Brittney added before continuing. "It was really sad though,
because Justin was always upset because he didn't think he could
reciprocate the feelings. Then I screwed up big time. I told Justin maybe
he just didn't see it, and that sent him into a depression for like two
days. But it got even worse when Josh brought home a boyfriend. I mean,
even though Josh has always loved Justin, he didn't want to be alone so
he went out with other guys." Brittney decided she would give Christina
the turn to speak.

Christina eagerly picked up where Brittney had left off. "Well like Britt
was saying; Justin was depressed, because he saw Josh with this guy, and
he realized that what Brittney said was right. He did like Josh, he loved
him, as much as Josh loved him. but he thought it was too late, that Josh
was with the other guy for sure. So he moped around, and Josh didn't even
seem to catch on to it. He was being such an ass, he didn't even comfort
his bestfriend when Justin ran from the restaraunt crying when he saw
Josh and the guy kiss. I mean, Justin was devastated, we couldn't get him
to sleep that night. He wanted to wait until Josh got home, but Josh went
home with Jim." Christina took a breather, and looked at Samantha for an
okay to continue.

"Jim who?" Sam asked a little confused.

"Jim was the guy Josh was dating." Brittney answered, as Christina took
up the story again.

"Finally some time in the morning Josh woke up at Jim's place. He went to
the store, bought Justin a teddy bear, and came back. He went straight
upstairs, and looked in Justin's room, but didn't find him. Coming back
down, we had to explain to him that Justin had fallen asleep in his room
waiting for Josh. It was really cute, because Justin always liked Josh's
room better, so what would be a better place for them to get together."
Christina cooed. "But anyways, Josh went upstairs, and woke him up. He
told Justin that he loved him, and for the first time Justin could return
the words, he could return them in the same way Josh meant them, and he
was happy to do it." Christina added with heart filled words.

"It was so cute, because it was like nothing happened. Justin wasn't
upset anymore, in fact he was happy, thrilled really. And now they make
the cutest couple, you are going to love them by the end of this tour."
Brittney warmly added, as she and Christina sighed. Sam smiled, and
realized that they were a cute couple, and she could recall watching a
few MTV shows where they were very close, and all though it was before
they got together, she realized that they were cute as friends too.

"That's so sweet." Sam replied, as they story was now over.

"I wish me and Lance had a good story like that. For us, it was just we
were sitting around together, and we just hooked up." Brittney
complained, but didn't get any simpathy from the other girls.

"Oh, boo hoo, at least you got a man." Christina teased, and Samantha
nodded while she laughed.

"Shut up." Brittney teased back, as they laughed for a good two minutes.
Samantha was happy, she had expected to be an outcast among the large
group of stars. After all, she was new to the music scene. Not to mention
the fact that everyone knew how close they all were, especially the
members of NSYNC. But they had accepted her quickly, and she felt like a
part of the group now that she knew about Justin and Josh. A secret she
knew she would never tell anyone, not even her family.

She smiled with the girls, glad to be part of such a big 'family'.

____________________________________________________________________________

TBC......

____________________________________________________________________________

Well this chapter took a while to write, and it wasn't even that long.
Sorry about that. I was really busy this weekend, and I still am, but I
think Chapter 12 will be out tomorrow. And just so you know I am going to
expose who Chris likes tomorrow. Although I hinted at the options in this
chapter.

Your choices are still Christina, Brittney, Lance, Joey, Josh, and
Justin. So cast your vote by e-mailing me, and telling me who you think
it should be and why.

I also want to thank my fans that are continuosly supportive of me. I
wanna thank Mary, Dan, Red, and Maggie who e-mail me frecuently with
ideas, or just comments. I really appriciate it, thanks.