Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 12:50:05 PDT
From: Jason Clarke <jaclarke@hotmail.com>
Subject: Loving Nick - Part 11

Well, it's been a while but here's the next segment of "Loving Nick."

This story involves members of the bands Backstreet Boys and N'SYNC.  I am
in no way implying anything about the sexuality of any of their members.
This is purely a fictional story.  Enjoy!

This is my first attempt at writing a story like this so please bear with
me. Please send any comments and/or suggestions to jaclarke@hotmail.com
(ICQ #7964029)

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Loving Nick - Part 11

Justin stared back at Lance, trying to hide his own fear.  "Uh, what do you
mean, Lance?"

"You know what I mean, Justin."  Lance was talking in a flat tone, calm yet
commanding at the same time.

"Uh...they...they..." Justin struggled for an answer but he knew that he
was trapped.

"I can't believe that it was you..." Lance began raising his voice and
Justin could hear the anger in Lance's voice.  "How could you?  Why did
you?  You were supposed to be my best friend."  Lance's voice began to
tremble; he found it increasingly difficult to control his emotions.

"I'm sorry, Lance," was all Justin managed to say.  He was on the verge of
tears yet he knew that he deserved what was coming to him.

"Sorry?  You're sorry?  I lost Nick because of you and all you can say is
that you're sorry?" Lance was yelling now and other people on the floor
could hear the racket.  "Why did you do it?  Were you jealous or was this
another one of your stupid, immature pranks?"

"I don't know," sobbed Justin.  "I didn't know it would turn out this way,
Lance." Justin felt horrible for what happened but he knew that nothing he
could say would make Lance feel any better now.

"I hate you, you fucking asshole!!!" Lance screamed at Justin.

"Lance, please..." Justin pleaded.  "I'm so sorry..."

"You'll be sorry all right!" Lance lunged at Justin, knocking him to the
ground.  He began to unleash his fury at Justin, landing blow after blow on
Justin's body.  Justin tried to block Lance's blows but many of them
painfully found their way to their target.

Finally, Justin managed to push Lance off of him.  By this time, he had
already sustained several punches to the stomach and a few on the face.
Yet Lance showed no signs of letting up.  Sensing this, Justin ran for the
door, hoping to run to safety.

Lance got up off the floor and chased after Justin.  Before Justin could
reach the door to his own room, Lance grabbed him and knocked Justin to the
floor again.  There, in the hallway of the hotel, Lance unleashed another
assault on Justin.  By now, the physical toll of Lance's anger began to
show on Justin in the form of bruises, cuts, and blood.

As Lance continued his rampage, a pair of hands grabbed Lance's shoulders
and pulled him off of Justin.  As Lance struggled to get free, JC yelled
out, "Stop it, Lance.  Have you gone crazy?  You're gonna kill him!!"

"That's exactly what I wanted to do!!" screamed Lance.

"That's it, Lance, you need to just calm down," JC commanded.

As JC and Lance struggled, Nick ran over to Justin, who was still lying on
the floor.

"You alright?" Nick asked, his face showing his concern for Justin.

Justin simply nodded, tears still streaming down his face.

"What are you trying to pull, Lance?" Nick said as he glared at Lance.

Before Lance could respond, JC dragged Lance into Kevin's room, where
everyone else was gathered.

"Let me go, JC," Lance ordered.

"Sit down, Lance," JC commanded.  "You're going to sit here and control
yourself before you do something stupid."

Meanwhile, Nick and Justin were still in the hallway.  "Come on, you better
get cleaned up before someone sees you like this," Nick said to Justin.  He
helped Justin off the floor and slowly walked him to his room.  After
sitting Justin on the bed, Nick walked to the washroom to get some wet
towels and the first aid kit.

Nick gently applied the wet towel to Justin's wounds, cleaning the blood
off of them, yet careful not to hurt Justin any more than necessary in the
process.  After cleaning the wounds, Nick carefully applied some medication
to prevent the wounds from becoming infected.

"There, feel better?" Nick asked.

Justin nodded his head.  "Thanks, Nick."

"No problem," Nick said, smiling at Justin.  As Justin slowly got up from
the bed, getting ready to walk back to his room, Nick asked, "So what was
going on out there between you and Lance."

"Oh, it was nothing.  I just said something that ticked him off.  He hasn't
been in a very good mood lately," Justin replied.

"Justin, you're almost as bad as me when it comes to lying," Nick answered.
"Now come on, tell me the truth.  What was going on out there?"

Tears began to swell up in Justin's eyes again.  He turned around to face
Nick.  Nick had always been a good friend to Justin and even now, looking
at Nick somehow had a comfortable feeling for him.  But he was afraid of
what may happen to this friendship once he told Nick the truth.  He braced
himself for another assault similar to the one Lance gave him earlier.

Justin took a deep breath, "Nick, I'm so sorry."

"What are you talking about, Just?" Nick could see the tears in Justin's
eyes yet could not figure out what Justin was trying to say.

As Justin got more emotional, he began to cry uncontrollably again.  He
fell on his knees in front of Nick, no longer able to contain his remorse.
"I'm so sorry, Nick.  It was me, I ruined everything for you."

Nick stared at Justin in shock.  He knelt down and pulled Justin into a
hug.  "It's okay, Just.  It's okay."

Justin could not believe how Nick was reacting to this revelation.  He
continued to sob, unable to control himself.  Finally, Justin managed to
contain his tears and looked at Nick in the eye, "I'm so sorry Nick.  I can
understand if you never want to have anything to do with me again."  Justin
looked to the floor in shame and sadness.

Nick placed his hands firmly on Justin's shoulders and looked him in the
eye.  "Just, what you did was really cruel and not very smart, but we all
have our share of mistakes.  I don't want to lose you as a friend because
of one unfortunate incident."

Justin looked at Nick in awe.  "You mean, you're willing to forgive me?"
Justin couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Nick smiled and nodded.  "You don't know how painful it is to be angry with
someone, especially someone you care about."

Justin hugged Nick, "Thank you, Nick.  You don't know how much this means
to me!!"

Nick patted Justin on the back and both of them got up off the floor and
sat on the bed.  "I know this is probably going to be hard for you, but why
did you do what you did, Just?"

Justin sighed, took a deep breath and said, "I've always had a crush on
you, Nick.  You were the man of my dreams."  Nick gasped in shock as he
heard this, but Justin continued, "And when I saw you and Lance together, I
was afraid that this would be my last chance to have you, so..." Justin
trailed off in shame as he revealed all that he had done.

"I had no idea, Just," Nick whispered.  "But..."

"I know, Nick.  I understand now that Lance is the only one that you've
ever loved.  I'll never have a chance."

"Just..."

"I'll be alright.  I really understand now.  I'm just glad that I can still
be your friend."

Nick smiled and nodded in understanding.

"So are you and Lance going to be okay?" Justin asked.  He created this
whole mess and he knew he needed to fix it somehow.

Nick shook his head sadly gently.  "It's over, Just."

"It's all my fault, I'm going to let Lance know the truth."

"No, Just.  It's beyond your control now.  Maybe we just weren't meant to
be together."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Justin walked into the room where everyone was meeting for dinner.  No one
was in the mood to go out so they just called room service.  As Justin
walked into the room, everyone stared at him coldly and no one said a word.
Justin quietly walked to the corner and sat down by himself, feeling as
lonely as ever.

Finally, after several minutes, JC walked over to Justin and sat down
across from him.  "Just, why did you do it?"

"I'm sorry, JC.  I didn't know it would turn out this way.  I'm really
sorry."

JC shook his head.  Both Lance and Justin were his friends and he knew that
right now, he was in a very awkward position.  As JC was talking with
Justin, he noticed that Lance was watching their every move.  "Just, I
think you need to give us all some time."

Justin nodded sadly as JC walked back sit with Lance.

Nick walked into a room full of activity.  Everyone was joking and chatting
happily, with the exception of Justin, who continued to sit by himself in
the corner.  After greeting the guys, Nick quietly walked over to Justin
and sat across from him.  "You okay?"

Justin nodded.  "I'll be fine.  I deserve to be treated this way I guess."

"Listen to be Just, no one deserves to be treated this way.  I'm going to
fix this once and for all.  This whole fiasco is just so out of hand."

"No, Nick.  Don't.  Just give them some time.  I don't think they can
forgive me as easily as the way you forgave me."

Nick sighed and nodded.  "Okay, you call the shots, Just.  Just remember
that if you ever need to talk, you can always come to me."

"Thanks, Nick," Justin answered quietly.  Right now, Nick was the only
person who showed any concern for his well being.  All of a sudden, there
was a loud bang in the room as Lance slammed the table and stormed out of
the room, obviously angry at Justin and Nick's friendly conversation.

As Nick looked out the window sadly, Justin got up from his seat and chased
after Lance.

"Lance, wait.  We need to talk," Justin called out.

Lance stopped in his tracks and turned to face Justin.  "What do you want?"

"You have to stop beating up on Nick, Lance."

"Who are you to talk??  You're the one who ruined everything," Lance lashed
out bitterly.

"I know, and I'm sorry.  But you're not helping by the way you're acting,"
Justin reasoned.  "Nick still loves you."

"Shut up, it's all because of you," Lance yelled.  Then, without warning,
Lance slapped Justin hard across the face before turning and running down
the hall.

Nick saw all of this from the doorway and ran to Justin as Lance dashed
off.  "You okay?"

Justin was sobbing and managed to say, "Yeah, I'm fine.  Don't worry about
me, go after Lance."

"You sure?" Nick asked, not wanting to leave Justin alone at this point.

"Yes, Nick.  Go after Lance, before it's too late."

"You're right, Just.  He had no right to do this to you."  With that, Nick
ran off towards the elevator, determined to find Lance.

Meanwhile, Lance took the elevator down to the lobby and ran towards the
entrance.  He hated Justin, and he couldn't believe how Nick could be so
nice to him.  "Justin must've lied about the whole thing to Nick, that
manipulative bastard," he thought to himself.  As he continued running, he
was so consumed by his thoughts that he did not see a veering car heading
towards him.  As Lance turned his head, he could see the headlights of the
car heading straight for him...


...to be continued....

Now what's gonna happen??

Please send any comments and/or suggestions to jaclarke@hotmail.com
(ICQ #7964029)