Date: Sun, 03 Jun 2001 12:07:58 +0800 From: Dane <blue_gray_sky@hotmail.com> Subject: Mad Season 5 Disclaimer: Just in case that you guys forget. I don't know any of the personalities in my stories but I do own Kelly, Mel, and the forty-ish Chinese woman. Tough luck if you want to meet them. I don't know their sexualities either, but a guy can wish sometimes. Today, I'm featuring Lisa Loeb's "Stay" and Lenny Kravitz' "Again". Just watch the videos and it will make you feel like living in New York. Author's Notes: Yet another round of Mad Season for you all. Thank you to the people who recently wrote in about it, especially Shaun.:) (You're such a sweetie) If you read my notes from last chapter then you know what I recommend as bedtime reading for all you good boys and girls who are slash addicts. I don't need to remind you guys to email me your thoughts and comments about the whole thing. Good or bad, who really gives a shit but I'll still thank you if you mail me your praise. (you hear a mirthful laugh) So don't be shy and tell me how you feel. (listen to Joy Enriquez, she's kewl.) btw, did I mention that you guys should email me. Well, do it now! Now, I tell you! Do it!!!! If you'll notice later, I've chosen Ananda Lewis as the host for TRL. Its because I hate Carson's guts and wish for him a slow agonizing death. (Don't mind me, its only my opinion.) Plus I really don't know how programming in MTV works so what I'm doing in my story is hypothetical. Enjoy none the less. I also dedicate this chapter to my friends Samantha and Jose who are in San Francisco And south Africa respectively. I miss you guys. Until we meet again. Now go and watch the next exciting episode of "As the Boyband world turns" AKA "Mad Season"--Dane PS. You can see this story in the hosted section of Shaun's Druid Tales site. It's in www.angelfire.com/boybands/druid555 if you want another peek at it. PPS. Neesha, if you're reading this. Please add more to your great barbecue story. It's a blast and a hoot. PPPS. I looooove Fruit Loops. (pardon me. I'm on a sugar rush.) Mad Season Chapter Five: Good Intentions 7AM the next day......... James woke up early to do his thrice a week class on Tai chi. He wore a gray NC sweatshirt with a wifebeater underneath and a pair of black sweat pants. After getting as much of his morning rituals out of the way, he took a quick ride on the subway to Central Park. He quickly gulped his take-out coffee, trying to savor what little of the sweetened bitter liquid, and threw it at a nearby trash bin while walking briskly towards a group of people in sweats gathering near the fountain. Upon seeing that the class that gathered here seemed complete, a forty-ish Chinese woman clapped her hands and got their attention. She told everyone to spread out and that they would start will basic stretching. James took his usual place on the side of everyone and began to follow the smooth, graceful movements of the instructor. Though even if this was just stretching, James felt some of the tension that he has been feeling in the past few days slow expel from his body. This was to help clear the mind before the actual Tai-chi, which is really a series of slow movements which makes the body and mind stronger and more focused. As they finished their pre-workout stretching, the instructor asked for silence and began to start moving with slow deliberate ease. As for the next hour and a half, James and the rest of the participants were too focused on their concentration. Chris and Justin got off their limo at the Arch Entrance of Central Park and started to look for a large group. After a good 15 minutes of searching, they found the Tai-chi group of James and sat back on a nearby bench while admiring the smooth synchronized activity. They noticed that James' was so into the workout that he didn't notice them even if he was looking at them in a certain point. Both of them could only admire the serenity in his face, the look of absolute peace. They knew that once he saw them that peace would soon be nothing but hindsight. After about 30 more minutes of graceful exercise, the instructor dismissed the class and everyone went their separate ways. James lingered a bit longer and brisked towards another bench. He sat there with closed eyes and steady breathing, not noticing Chris and Justin approach. "Lance." He froze and slowly turned towards the voice's source. Wide-eyed with fear, he could hardly move, much more escape. "We have to talk", said a sad-faced Justin, Chris' face mirrored that expression. Both of they sat on either side of him cutting any possibility of retreating. James bowed his head as not to look at their faces. He felt like he was stuck in Limbo, just waiting for the two of them to lash out on him. "Lance, we're sorry." James head shot up and gave both of them each an incredulous look. He was floored speechless. All the thoughts of fear gave way to thoughts of confusion. "You better close your mouth, Scoop or a fly might just make its home in there", joked Chris to relieve some of the tension. Managing to collect some of his wits, James stammered. "W-W-Why?" "Why what?", asked Justin. "Why are here? Are you guys here to fuck with my head? Or is this for real?", James questioned with much suspicion. Both of them sighed, trying to find the right words to say then Chris found some inspiration. "You know that while you were growing up in NSYNC we never really got to appreciate you fully. When you joined the group you were the odd man out. Justin and Josh knew each other like forever, the same with Joey and me. I mean, you were the one with that stupid bowl cut that with girly features, while the rest of us have always been already comfortable with the way we look. You had less fun than the rest of us because took over our business interest. You were the one that never complained when the rest of us were whining. You never flaunted your importance to us. I guess what we are trying to say is that we took you for granted and left you to the wolves when you needed a rock to lean on. I guess what we're saying is 'We're Sorry, Lance'." James remained stunned at Chris words. Justin took Chris' lead and continued. "Lance, we mean it when we say we're sorry. I can't really apologize for Josh and Joey but can you hear our reason, stupid as they be?" James nodded silently and Justin said, "For me, I think I said the harshest words when we hurt you. I basically damned you to hell because of my beliefs but Joey made me see the light. He beat the crap out of me, literally. He made me see that I lost a very good friend, not a sinner who deserved to go to hell. Gay or straight Lance, you are still my friend." James saw tears slowly stream down and gave him a tight forgiving hug. Chris joined in the hug fest and whispered, "I'm sorry, too." James managed to untangle himself from Justin and faced Chris with furrowed brows. With a smile, Chris elequated his apology. "I guess my excuse is that I was afraid with you being gay and all, I saw the end of NSYNC. I know that is no excuse for me to hurt you. I was afraid that you'd announce it to the world or some scandal would happen and we would be finished." Chris said no more and squeezed his hands tight. James just gave him a reassuring embrace while Chris patted his arms. As they disentangled themselves, a cold autumn wind began to blow causing James to shiver so Justin offered his jacket. He accepted and draped it over his shoulders. They just sat there on that bench with loud silence. The gravity of the situation lessened but one thought just lingered in James' mind. Joey. "Guys, I have a question. How's Joey?" The quiet mood caved to sudden discomfort. James noticed this and pressed on for answers. "Yesterday, JC found Joey in his room all huddled up in bed like a broken china doll. He called us and we flew in as fast as we could to get here. He explained with as little speculation as possible. That's why we're here," said Chris. James hugged himself starting to feel oblivious to the cold. He sighed. "Did he tell you guys what happened?" "He just keeps muttering, "He hates me" over and over. What did you do to him, Scoop?", asked Justin. He sighed and placed his elbows on his knees and his forehead on his hands. "He followed me from the Speakeasy to my apartment. I saw him and JC, and I freaked out. I wanted to runaway again but I felt obligated to Nick that night to stay. I finished the set but Kelly, my boss, told me to go to the table where they were. I went there, left as quickly as possible without having a nervous breakdown, and ran home. Joey followed me." Slumping back, he dangled his head off the rest back of the bench. "I saw him. He tried to reason and apologize to me but I gave in to my anger. I lashed out and my words hurt him. I didn't even finish ranting to his face when he ran out of my apartment like a bat out of hell." "Do you want to go with us so you can talk to him?", asked Justin. "No, not yet. I'm still a bit afraid of what I'm going to do when I see him." "Why?", Chris said with a curious tone. "Remember the night I came out to you guys. JC was the only one who seemed to accept the way I am. You two hurt me with your words but I expected that. By the way, you guys are forgiven." All three of them laughed a little. "It was Joey's silence that hurt me the most. For two weeks, he went out of his way to avoid me and not talk to me. I felt hated and unwanted. At least you felt that I was still part of everything. I didn't think I could be that angry at anyone." They stayed there I thoughtful silence until James looked at his watch and jumped up at the time. "Oh Fuck. I'm going to be late!!!" He began to run away to find the nearest cab when Chris grabbed him. "Let us bring you to where you are supposed to be", he offered. James protested but eventually was brought down to their limo. It was quite a while since he last rode in one so he felt a little out of place in it. They brought him to his apartment and did another marathon change. Chris and Justin laughed at the incredible speed that Lance was able to pull. They talked some more in the limo and Chris explained about him they found him in the park. (Remember the detective who followed him.) They dropped him at the local college he was attending but not before promising to see him again. When the limo door closed, Chris faced Justin with an impish grin and said, "Phase One complete. Now to get Joey ready for TRL later." Justin simply smiled. Joey's room.... Janine sat beside her brother and resolved herself to wake him up. He had to get ready for MTV in which all of the current members of NSYNC were going to go. She shook him up lightly first then violently next, no reaction. Knowing that Joey was going to hate this, she got the pitcher that was filled with ice water and poured it all over him. Joey shot up in shock and looked around in bewilderment. When he saw Janine he gave her the evil eye but she gave him a weak smile. "Joe, get up! Your friends appointed me as the one to get you ready. Chris and Justin will be here in 30 minutes and all of you will meet JC in the MTV studio in an hour and a half. So move your wet ass now and get ready." Joey gave her a menacing look then plopped back to bed, clutching his now soaked pillow. "Oh no, buster! You're going to take a shower, cuz you reek like a garbage collector's labor strike, and get yourself dressed." She pulled him up and both held their eyes in a glaring match. After a good 5 minutes of this, Joey gave in and went to the stereo to select a song before going to the bathroom to shower. Janine watched him intently as he closed the door then she focused on the song that Joey selected. She noticed that it was "Stay" by Lisa Loeb. You say I only hear what I want to You say I talk so all the time so And I thought what I felt was simple And I thought that I don't belong And now that I am leaving Now I know that I did something wrong 'Cause I missed you Yeah, I missed you And you say I only hear what I want to I don't listen hard I don't pay attention to the distance That you're running Or to anyone, anywhere I don't understand if you really care I'm only hearing negative no, no, no So I turned the radio on, turned the radio up And this woman was singing my song The lover's in love, and the other's run away The lover is crying 'cause the other won't stay Some of us hover when we weep for the other Who was dying since the day they were born Well, this is not that I think that throwing, but I'm thrown And I thought I'd live forever But now I'm not so sure You try to tell me that I'm clever But that won't take me anyhow or anywhere with you You said that I was naïve And I thought that I was strong I thought, "hey I can leave, I can leave" But now I know that I was wrong 'cause I missed you You said, "I caught you 'cause I want you And one day I'll let you go" You try to give away a keeper, or keep me 'cause You know you're just scared to lose And you say, "Stay" You say I only hear what I want you to. Listening to that song made Janine feel even more sorry for Joey. How can he choose a song about a break-up when he and Lance weren't even together? She guessed it was because that the fight they had must have felt worst than any break-up that Joey ever had. MTV Studios, Times Square "JC, are you sure this is going to work?", asked Ananda Lewis. "I hope so", he replied to the African American VJ. Both of them were in the green room, waiting for the rest of Nsync, along with Howie, Nick, Jessica and Christina. Dani and Ryan stayed in the hotel volunteering to wait for the rest of the guys so they'll ride together there. Their plan was outlined to MTV so they can help in convincing Lance to come back. MTV agreed to a special 2-hour special of TRL considering how much star power was present in the room. "Whatever happens later, we are all behind NSYNC no matter what", said Christina. Howie just nodded his head. Nick and Jess held hands and watched the transaction of words. Ananda looked at the group of pop stars and just had to admire them for their determination to get their friend back. She stood up and said, "Well, I hope Lance will be watching the show though so you can get your message out to him." "He will. I can almost guarantee that he will be watching the show", JC said with conviction. Ananda smiled and motioned for the door. "Okay, I have to set up a few things before we all go on air in 3 hours so you guys chill for now." Everyone nodded and then Ananda was out the door. The time passed and soon the group separated into two between the boys and the girls. The guys were in one corner talk mostly seinfeld conversations to take their minds off the reason why they were all here while the girls were distracting themselves with ideas on how to plan the perfect wedding. "Do you think Lance will really come back, JC?", asked Nick. "He'll come around, at least." "Guys, I have something to confess", Nick said with a nervous look on his face. "What is it, man? You going back to rehab or are you getting cold feet this early?", asked Howie. JC smacked him in the arm. Nick composed him trying to find the right things to say. "I told you I saw Lance, or James, or whatever name goes on now in Seattle about 4 months ago right?" Both of them nodded their heads. "Well, I went to rehab shortly after that and I kind of thought it over the conversation I had with Lance and what he looked like. I got out a sketchpad to remember his face. When I saw the final product, I thought, 'Fuck me, that's Lance'." "Hindsight is always 20/20", said Howie. "Yeah, I wondered if it was okay to tell you guys what happened. I told myself that when I got out of rehab I'd tell you guys about Lance. I immediately got on tour after I got out so I sort of forgotten it until a couple of days ago when we saw him again." "Hey, no problem. Maybe it was meant to be that we didn't find Lance until now", JC said to no one in particular. All of them sighed in slight hopelessness. Just then, the door came bounding open. "Dammit Justin, I told you that it was this way. Why didn't you just believe me so we wouldn't have gotten lost in the first place", Chris complained as the rest of their party entered the room. Justin shrugged apologetically. Everyone settled in and started to vocalize and work out the songs that they were going to perform there. After a good two hours of working things out, one of the stage managers knocked on the door and peaked her head inside. "Guys, we've 20 minutes until show time so will you all come with me", she said. The Speakeasy.... James nimbly entered the bar with tired strides. First thing he did was sprawl himself all over the nearest sofa and tried to get a few minutes of sleep before any of his obligations needed to be done. Kelly noticed this when she came in and sat down beside him. She whispered into his ear that she needed him to do an inventory of the glasses and bar equipment so if he wanted that raise he better work for it. "Bitch!", he muttered softly, but she let that slide knowing that's how she expected everyone to behave around her. Dragging Mel off the phone, James drafted her and a bunch of the other bartenders to help him out. Kelly checked her watch and decided to turn on the wide screen flat TV behind the bar so she could fulfill her agreement with JC. She set it on MTV and proceeded to watch the drama unfold. As James and Mel continued to sort and count all the glasses, a few music videos played almost as if they were the countdown buzzer. Soon enough, TRL came on and the VJ's voice shook James out of his work temporarily. Shrugging that Ananda would make a good distraction from work, he turned his attention towards the TV screen. "Welcome everybody to a special episode of TRL. What we have for you is a good solid 2-hour show with a good mix of artists today. We have for you Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, Nick Lachey of 98 Degrees, Howie Dorough of the BSB, and NSYNC in the house", said Ananda. The studio audience and the crowd outside screamed. "I know that this was quite a surprise to most of you out there but trust us when we say that this is worth it. We will not only countdown the most requested songs by you viewers out there but also we will barrage you with live performances by our special guests. And now for our first surprise, we have for you NSYNC!" The crowd stood up and cheered but some started to whisper when they noticed that Lance was missing. As the guys made way to the platform they stood with Ananda and waved to the audience. "It seems that you're missing one of your number. Where's Lance, guys?", Ananda feigned knowing anything for performance sake. "Well, that's the reason why we are here, Ananda," said Justin with what the guys affectionately call the "stage smile" which all of them perfected. "We're here because Lance sort of quit on us a while back." The crowd gasped in disbelief. "Yeah, we are here to say to the world and to Lance in particular that we want him back and that we are sorry," said JC with a neutral expression. Mel noticed that James wasn't paying much due attention to the work in hand so she didn't bother badgering him to get back to it. She focused on the screen and then back at James. Noticing his eyes were glued on one of them but didn't quite get whom, she followed his gaze to see that his eyes were focused on the silent Italian with dyed blond hair. "So he has a favorite. Cute!", thought Mel as the interview continued. TRL has been on for the passed hour and practically no work has been done. Jess and Chrissy did a duet of "I'll Be There". The guys, along with Howie and Nick, did a remake of Thinking of You (I Drive Myself Crazy). "Damn, they sounded good", thought James as he watched the start of the number six video of the day start. All that time of watching Kelly watched James get enthralled at the screen, taking particular notice when his light jade eyes would light up when the screen showed Joey. This made her smile and smug at the same time. She was glad that her matchmaking schemes seem to be working yet again. "This is way too enjoyable", thought Kelly to herself as an almost manic smile appeared on her face. She turned her interest towards Ananda's face on the TV. "And that was the Miss Janet Jackson at number 5 with "All for You". Now for everyone here in the studio audience we have a special one-time performance for you all. On keyboard, we have JC. On guitar, we have Chris. On back-up vocals, we have Howie, Justin and Jessica. And on lead vocals, we have Joey singing his rendition of "Again" by Lenny Kravitz." The audience went wild. I've been searching for you I heard a cry within my soul I never had a yearning quite like this before Now here you are walking right through my door All of my life Where have you been? I wonder if I'll ever see you again And if that day comes I know we could win I wonder if I'll ever see you again A sacred gift of heaven For better, worse, wherever And I would never let somebody break you down Or take your crown never All of my life Where have you been? I wonder if I'll ever see you again And if that day comes I know we could win I wonder if I'll ever see you again I've searched through time I've always known That you were there upon your throne A lonely queen without her king I've longed for you my love forever All of my life Where have you been? I wonder if I'll ever see you again And if that day comes I know we could win I wonder if I'll ever see you again All of my life Where have you been? I wonder if I'll ever see you again And if that day comes I know we could win I wonder if I'll ever see you again I wonder if I'll ever see you again I wonder if I'll ever see you again I wonder if I'll ever see you again I wonder if I'll ever see you again I wonder if I'll ever see you again In the wings, Christina and Dani were bawling in each other's arms while Nick and Ryan were stunned speechless by the amount of emotion that Joey placed into the song. The audience felt the same thing that the four felt in one form or the other. Slowly but surely the crowd began to clap with much appreciation. Back at the Speakeasy, Mel and Kelly were dumbfounded at the amazing performance of Joey that they didn't immediately see James slump to the floor in a big crying heap. Mel ran from her seat in front of the bar to James prone form behind it. Kelly jumped from the sofa she was lounging on and kneeled on James other side. He continued to sob like a hysterical child while Mel hugged him with comforting circling hand motions on his back. When James seemed to calm down a bit, Kelly told off the rest of the employees to go back to work if they wanted to stay employed. She went to the back office and called a cell phone number. All this time, they didn't see the apology that Joey made on air to Lance, as well as the number one video of the day. TBC.