"Sucker"

Sucker

Rating: NC-17 for graphic male-male sex

Pairings: Backstreet Boys/*NSYNC/O-Town

Disclaimer: The young men who comprise the Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, and O-Town are their own people. The author has not met anyone here described, nor does the author mean to suggest that these people act this way in real life. This writing is a work of fiction. I make no money from this venture.

Continued from part thirty-five...

“You shouldn’t have kissed me,” Chris said. He hated to bring up the obvious, but sometimes it helped.

Kevin cupped his chin and kissed him, once, twice, again, again.

“Especially not in front of Justin,” Chris said. He and Kevin were sitting on Lance’s bed. He wondered what everybody else was doing. Probably exactly what Kevin had told them to do.

Kevin had frightening eyebrows. “Do you really want to mention him to me right now?”

Now that he thought about it, “No.”

Kevin dialed.

Chris folded his hands together.

Kevin kissed his cheek. “Are you out of bed yet?”

Chris wanted to check on Justin.

“Yes,” Kevin said. “Now.”

Justin probably didn’t want to see him.

“Lance’s house.”

The kiss had lasted maybe two seconds. Maybe three? It had been quick, it had just started. He’d been so shocked that Kevin was kissing him right in front of Justin, he hadn’t known what to do.

“You’ll see when you get here.”

He knew how Justin felt. Only Justin was more able to act on the emotion. Chris didn’t have that left in him. Justin could still act out sometimes. Chris envied him. If he ever had to be around when Brian and Lance were - - “You like that?” - - together, he’d probably - - “You like that?” - - lose it, too. Why did he keep hearing Lance’s voice in his head?

“Bye.”

Justin had punched Howie. AJ had been cut, and no matter how shallowly, it still counted. Brian wouldn’t like that. Kevin didn’t, either.

Kevin kissed his cheek. His mouth. Came back for more.

“What’s this about?” Chris asked. Justin lashed out, and Kevin got turned on?

“Close your eyes,” Kevin said, kissing him slowly, gently lowering him to his back.

“We can’t do this,” Chris said, in case Kevin had forgotten. Not that Kevin seemed the forgetful type.

Kevin kissed his eyes closed.

“We’re in Lance’s house,” Chris said, keeping his eyes shut. Kevin pushed his shirt up, kissing his stomach. “We’re in Lance’s bed.” Kevin was definitely opening his fly, and that was a bad thing. “Everybody’s here.” He didn’t want to bring up Justin again, but Kevin didn’t seem to get his point. Chris tensed, curling his fingers in as Kevin’s hand cupped his dick, licking the head. “You have to stop. Oh! Oh, oh…” Oh, that definitely wasn’t stopping. “Why are you, ah, ah, why are you doing, aahh, this? We never,” his toes curled, “do this.”

Kevin’s tongue swept from the base to the head. “We do this all of the time.”

Yes, technically, they did, but, “oh,” usually Kevin “oh, oh” only “Kevin” did this as one step of a larger program. Not by “oh god” itself. But maybe that meant - - Chris pushed himself up onto his elbows. “Are you going to fuck me?”

Wow. That was Kevin’s tongue on his dick. Feeling faint, Chris lay back, blinking. He wasn’t used to looking at that.

“Do you want me to?” Kevin asked.

Chris panted at the ceiling. “Good God, no.”

“Then I won’t,” Kevin said, and started sucking.

Closing his eyes, Chris clutched the sheet in one hand, clapped his other hand over his mouth, and moaned.

After sweeping the floor clean, Joey joined Lance and JC in Justin’s corner. Justin’s mouth was moving like he was talking, but Joey didn’t hear any words. Justin’s jeans had protected him in the fall, but there were a few scratches on his palms and a shallow cut on his upper arm. Lance was playing doctor while JC rubbed his back and said encouraging things.

“Does it hurt?” Joey asked. It didn’t look bad at all. Justin had been through worse without a word of complaint. Since Justin wasn’t answering, he glanced at JC. “Are you going to spend all day shirtless?”

“I can’t get into the bedroom,” JC said.

“Justin,” Lance said. Justin didn’t respond, twisting his fingers together and talking to himself. “Justin,” Lance repeated, and put his hand under Justin’s chin, forcing his face up. “What happened?”

“Don’t push him,” JC said.

“What do you want us to do?” Lance demanded, relaxing his hold.

“Keep him away from Kevin,” JC said. “This, what happened with Jacob, it’s all about Kevin. They shouldn’t be in this house together.”

“No!” Justin said. Lance took his hand away. “No, I’ll be good, I’ll be good,” Justin said.

“This isn’t about being good,” Lance said. “This is about your health and your safety.”

“What happened?” Joey asked Justin. “Did you throw the glass?”

“I was going to throw it over there, just to make them stop, just to get his attention. I wasn’t going to hit them with it. I wouldn’t ever do that to Kevin and I would never hurt Chris.” Justin rubbed his eyes. “I just wanted it to stop. I just wanted to make it stop.”

“I know you didn’t want to hurt them, but that could have been dangerous, J.,” JC said gently. “People are getting hurt, and we’re getting scared for you.” He stroked Justin’s back. “We worry about you.”

“Kevin was kissing him,” Justin said. “Kevin had his hands, and his mouth, and… They were kissing.” Justin lowered his head, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t like watching Kevin kiss other people.”

Joey couldn’t help but glance at JC. JC looked properly ashamed.

“He was probably doing it to upset you,” Lance said. “You can’t give him what he wants. That gives him control over you.”

“Weren’t you the one throwing juice on Howie?” Joey asked.

“That was different,” Lance said.

Joey looked at him. “How?”

Lance’s mouth opened, then closed. “Not at all,” he finally said.

“What did it look like?” Justin asked, raising his head.

“He looked wet,” Lance said. “And shocked. That was the last thing he expected and the first thing he deserved.”

“How did it feel?” Justin asked, needing to know.

“Great,” Lance said. “It felt terrific. I’d do it again if I could. I might.”

Joey grinned. “I’ll pour the juice.”

Justin tilted a little to one side until he was leaning into JC. “Kevin’s not going to be happy with me.”

“We won’t let anything happen to you,” Joey said.

Lance slid in on Justin’s other side. “It doesn’t matter if he’s mad. They’re probably all mad right now. It doesn’t make a difference. Kevin wasn’t going to take you home tonight anyway. Howie wasn’t going to profess his undying love today.”

Justin’s eyes widened. “Did I hit Howie?”

“You hit Howie hard,” Joey said. “It looked satisfying as hell.”

“Oh my god.” Justin rested his face by Lance’s, closing his eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize to me,” Lance said. “Next time, aim for Brian.”

Joey couldn’t help it; he laughed. Smiling, JC shushed him.

Justin’s eyes opened. He patted Lance’s arm. “Where’s Chris?”

“Do you want me to go get him?” JC asked.

Justin’s eyes clouded over. “No,” he said quietly, lowering his gaze. “If Kevin wants him, that’s where he should be.”

“He should be where he wants to be,” Lance said, “and he’d probably like to be here, because he’s probably worried about you.”

“Isn’t this cute.” Joey’s body tensed, flushing with natural heat as AJ strolled into the kitchen. “How are you doing?”

“I’m sorry,” Justin said quickly, scrambling to his feet. The three of them stood around him. “I-”

“Don’t worry about it,” AJ said, moving closer with predatory grace that made Joey sweat. “How’s the damage?”

“It’s just my arm and a little on my hands,” Justin said, clearly afraid of retribution. “Are you all right? I’m so-”

“I said forget about it,” AJ said, lifting Justin’s hands and inspecting his palms. “Relax. You’re dealing with me, not Kevin. A little advice, though.” He lowered Justin’s hands, but he didn’t let go. “Next time, remember, I’m on your side.”

Justin smiled, a little. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” AJ hooked his fingers in Justin’s front pocket and glanced over the three of them. “The meeting’ll start as soon as Nick gets here.”

“How professional of him to be an hour late,” Lance said.

“Hey, he’s volunteering to help you guys out from the goodness of his heart,” AJ said. “He can show up whenever he wants.” He looked around the kitchen. “It’s not like he missed an important discussion.”

Chris panted for breath, heart pounding. “Is it over?”

A slow zipping, and Kevin stroked his cheek. “You can open your eyes now.”

Chris slowly opened his eye, testing. Everything looked okay, so he opened the other one. The ceiling was still white and Kevin was still incredibly good-looking.

Kevin kissed him.

“You’re being very nice,” Chris said. “I don’t like it.”

Kevin smiled. “You want me to be mean to you?”

“Yes,” Chris said. “That would be great, thanks.” That, he understood. That, he could work with. This, well, this nice thing was just disorienting, and he couldn’t handle being any more off-balance than he already was.

“I know you’re worried about Trevor.”

He was, actually, although he was more worried about Justin.

“He’s not good enough for you,” Kevin said.

“You don’t believe that,” Chris said.

Kevin ran his fingers along Chris’s collarbone. “I do believe that.” He met Chris’s eyes. “I wouldn’t bother to say it if I didn’t mean it.”

Lance left Joey, Justin, JC, and AJ in the living room and went down the hall to the bathroom. After a knock, Brian opened the door. Howie was sitting on the countertop.

“Is Nick here?” Brian asked.

“No, not yet,” Lance said, his gaze straying past Brian to Howie again. Howie was in profile, looking down, not at him, and Lance was drawn to the arch of his eyebrow, the line of his lashes, the soft temptation of his lips. The soft thickness of his hair. The hard strength in his arms. The slight spread of his thighs. Howie had gorgeous, smooth, rich skin. Lance wanted to stroke his stubble and get that warmly affectionate chocolate gaze to let him know that he was Howie’s favorite person in the world. “Can I talk to Howie alone?” he asked Brian.

Brian took the time to look hurt. Lance ignored him, and he left. Lance closed the door.

Howie looked at him.

Lance locked the door.

“I’m not mad at you,” Howie said.

“You can’t be,” Lance said, walking over to him. “After everything you did to me, you owed me that.”

“I don’t owe you anything.”

Lance put his hands on Howie’s knees, sliding his palms up Howie’s thighs. They parted easily for him, and he stepped in. “Nothing?” he asked, pulling Howie forward.

“Nothing,” Howie whispered.

That challenge was Lance’s invitation. “When Justin hit you, I was the happiest person in the room,” Lance said, easing Howie down to stand before him.

“I know,” Howie said, sliding his hands under Lance’s sleeves to stroke his upper arms.

“I wanted to cheer for him.” Lance slowly ground his pelvis to Howie’s, feeling Howie’s body respond.

“I know.” Howie breathed through parted lips, fingers digging in just enough to get Lance’s attention as the rocking of their hips intensified.

“It hurt like hell.” The arousal darkening Howie’s eyes and the soft, sexual moans from the back of Howie’s throat made Lance’s dick harden with lust.

“I know.” Howie touched his forehead to Lance’s, eyes closing, wincing with pleasure.

“I would have given anything to be the one he hit, instead of you. It kills me to see you hurt.”

“I know.” Howie’s lips were soft to the press of Lance’s thumb.

“I hate loving you,” Lance whispered. “I’m no good at hating you.”

Howie’s body moved against his like they were already making love. “It doesn’t matter which one you choose.” His eyes opened. “You’ll always want me.”

Howie wanted Lance’s mouth, Lance’s kiss. Wanted Lance’s hands on his body. Wanted Lance’s dick. It was all there in his eyes, in the darkness of his gaze. It was in the grinding of his hips, his successive undulations. It was in the wordless moans that were for Lance’s ears alone.

But Lance wasn’t ready to give Howie what he wanted. “You look good in my shirt.”

The lust in Howie’s gaze pulled on Lance, drew him in, made him want to do everything Howie wanted from him. “I like it,” Howie said. Their gazes locked, heat intensifying between their bodies with every roll of their hips, Howie’s hands sliding from Lance’s arms across his shoulders and down to his chest, stroking with slowly burning need. “It smells like you.”

Lance’s arousal throbbed, and he rocked his hips roughly against Howie, wanting to thrust in, wanting to fuck. Howie groaned, eyes closing briefly, pulling on the front of his shirt to bring him closer.

The sound of Howie’s desire was impossible to resist; Lance kissed him aggressively, drawing more hot moans from him, feeding from his lust and his soft, hungry mouth.

It was almost painful to separate his hips from Howie’s, to lose the pressure and friction, to break up the momentum, but Lance pulled back enough to slide his hand between their bodies and work open Howie’s fly. He groaned deeply at the cupping, squeezing feel of Howie’s hand rubbing over his erection through his jeans.

Being away from Howie always made Lance miss him. Being with other men made Lance miss him even more. No one else was like Howie. No one else kissed Lance with the same passion, no one else touched Lance’s body with the same knowledge and heat, no one else responded with such erotic grace and need. No one else had Howie’s rich, smooth skin or Howie’s beautiful dark eyes or Howie’s flirtatious smile. No one moaned like Howie or made him hard like Howie or gripped his heart like Howie.

No one ever would.

Chris fidgeted, one hand jiggling the doorknob, on the verge of opening the bedroom door and stepping into the hall. “One more thing.”

“What is it?” Kevin asked in his nearly genuinely patient voice, as opposed to his merely pretending to be patient but gritting his teeth voice.

“Jacob called me. To talk about Trevor.” Chris rushed forward to forestall Kevin’s anger. “I’m over at their house all of the time, and he lives there, and we keep bumping into each other, and when he talks to me I talk back, but I haven’t been approaching him. I know that you don’t want me to go near him, and I try to keep my distance, but he considers me a friend, and that seems to make things easier for Trevor. Jacob gives Ashley and Erik and Dan a hard time about their extracurricular activities, but he’s a lot friendlier about me and Trevor, and-”

“You’re babbling,” Kevin said.

Chris closed his mouth.

“What did he say when he called you?” Kevin asked.

Chris squinched his eyes shut, searching back through his memory. Kevin would want as much detail and accuracy as possible. “He asked me what was going on. I told him that I’d had a fight with Trevor. He said that Trevor was upset. I said that I was sorry, and he said that it had seemed like Trevor and I had something. I said that it was complicated, and he said that was bullshit.” What else… “I told him that there was someone else, and he said, ‘Kevin.’ He said that was just an excuse, and I should think about what I really want. I asked him how Trevor was, and he said that Trevor didn’t know who to blame. I told him to blame me. He told me to come over and talk to Trevor, and that he’d like to see me around, himself.” Chris opened his eyes.

Kevin looked displeased. “I told you to stay away from him.”

“He called me,” Chris said in his own defense.

“You didn’t have to answer the phone,” Kevin said, sounding irritated.

Oh. “I didn’t know if Brian was with him, and if Brian was there and Jacob was calling, I didn’t know whether I should answer or not, whether Brian would like that or not.”

“You knew exactly what I would have liked and what I wanted from you,” Kevin said. “You don’t have to guess with me. Next time, instead of flailing around trying to figure out what Brian would want from you, do what I’ve told you to do.”

“I can’t stay away from him,” Chris said. “Not completely. He lives there, and he’s not shy.”

“And he’s Brian’s, and that fascinates you,” Kevin said.

Chris tried to smile and failed.

“What are the odds you’re going to slip up and give Jacob too much truth?” Kevin asked.

“I’m okay around Jacob,” Chris said. “He’s connected to Brian, and that makes it easier for me to keep from saying the wrong thing. As long as they’re not having sex. Once that starts, all bets are off. But right now, I’m safe.”

Kevin’s index finger trailed along Chris’s jaw. “Jacob likes you.”

“Everybody loves me,” Chris said. “It must be my universal sex appeal.”

Kevin smiled. “It must be.”

AJ insisted on keeping Justin by his side, for Justin’s own sake. Joey stuck close, primarily to support Justin but also to remain near AJ, although AJ and Justin’s obvious physical familiarity surprised and bothered him. When AJ and Brian sat together on the sofa, Justin sat beside AJ, and Joey sat beside Justin.

JC sat on the other sofa and wondered when Nick was going to arrive. Wondered where Howie and Lance were. What they were doing.

When the doorbell rang, no one else seemed to notice. AJ and Brian were deep in conversation that JC simply couldn’t follow - - either it was in code, or they were skipping words. Justin was lost in his own world, leaning absently against AJ’s side, picking at his fingernails, and infrequently muttering. Joey was none too subtly looking around Justin to stare at AJ.

Since no one else so much as looked up, and Lance was missing, JC went to answer the door. Halfway there, he realized that he was shirtless, which gave him pause. He felt, suddenly, oddly shy about openly displaying his body before Nick in what was supposed to be a nonsexual situation. Then again, was there any situation that was ever nonsexual, when Nick was involved?

Pulling the door open, JC had to smile as heat lanced his body. Nick. God, just looking at him, just being near him, felt good.

“Hey, baby.” Nick’s gaze dropped, then rose over JC’s exposed flesh. “If I’d known you’d be answering the door like this, I would’ve been here hours ago.”

JC felt himself blushing, flattered. “Come in.”

Nick grinned at him. “I’d love to.”

JC stepped back, flustered, letting Nick into the house. No one but Nick ever made him this nervous. Maybe because he’d exposed himself to Nick so thoroughly, no one had ever known him as well. He’d shared all of his secrets with Nick, all of his fears, all of his vulnerabilities. “We’re in the, uh, in there,” he said, gesturing. “I was getting dressed, but Kevin took over Lance’s room, so…”

“Don’t let Kevin push you around,” Nick said. “Barge in there and take it back.”

JC had no doubt that Nick would have done exactly that, in JC’s shoes. But Nick and Kevin’s relationship was nothing like JC and Kevin’s. Kevin had a very soft, very protective spot when it came to Nick. JC didn’t know that from observing Kevin, but from the stories that Nick had told him. Nick had shared a lot of personal experiences that spoke volumes about his brotherhood with the fellas, without seeming to be aware of how much he was giving away about their emotional bond.

“You go get dressed,” Nick said. His smile teased; he ran a finger down JC’s abs. “I don’t want to be forced to jump you in front of everybody.”

“Okay,” JC said breathlessly. Warm from Nick’s mere presence, hot from Nick’s attention, he blushed a little more and went back down the hallway. Turning the corner, he almost bumped into Chris and Kevin.

“Nick’s here?” Kevin asked.

“Yeah,” JC said.

“Is Justin okay?” Chris asked.

“He’s calmer now,” JC said. “He’s not mad at you,” he told Chris. “He’s really sorry.” He shifted his gaze from Chris to Kevin. “If you’re finished in Lance’s room, I’d like to get dressed so we can start the meeting.”

“Sorry about that,” Kevin said.

Chris’s jaw dropped.

Honestly not sure how to take that, JC nodded and moved on.

Chris turned, looking up into Kevin’s eyes. “Are you feeling okay? You’ve been weird since you got here, but now I’m scared.” He put his hand to Kevin’s forehead. “No fever…”

Kevin lowered Chris’s hand. “I’m fine.” There was a thump from the bathroom. “Get them,” he said, and left Chris alone in the hallway.

Them? Who was them? Cautiously, Chris approached the door. Them. It could be anyone. It could be Joey and AJ. No, not loud enough. Someone smart enough to be slightly discreet, but still bold enough to duck into a bathroom in front of everyone. It wasn’t JC, obviously, and it wasn’t Joey, so that left Justin and Lance. Justin wasn’t in the right mindset, which whittled the suspects down to one.

Lance.

Lance had just juiced Howie.

Lance and…

Chris swallowed.

…Brian?

No. “Brian loves me,” Chris whispered, “Brian loves me.” He knocked. “Brian loves me. Brian loves me. Brian loves me.”

The door opened.

Howie.

Howie?

Hadn’t Lance just thrown orange juice in Howie’s face? It wasn’t a grave offense, but it couldn’t have been something that Howie enjoyed. And now…?

With a polite smile, Howie slipped past him and walked on.

Chris looked into the bathroom. “I’m out of the loop.”

Lance zipped up. “Don’t tell JC.”

More secrets? “You might want to fix your hair,” Chris said. “Nick’s here, so we’re probably about to start the meeting.”

Lance looked at his reflection, tweaking his hair back into its usual spikes. “Are you okay?”

“Me?” Chris asked. “I’m fine.” Fine and dandy. Dandy and fine. Peachy keen and keeny peach. He wanted to talk to Justin, not that he was sure what to say, but there wasn’t a chance that they’d converse until Kevin was gone.

“Hey.” JC was fully clothed, and seemed entirely unaware that Lance had moments ago been doing something untoward. “Everybody ready?”

“Absolutely,” Chris said. “Can’t wait.”

No more Chris.

I know when he’s been on your mind, that distant look is in your eyes

No more Chris in his bathroom. No more watching Chris shave. No more watching Chris brush his teeth. No more watching Chris fix his hair. No more hearing Chris sing in the shower. He loved Chris’s voice, and he’d felt privileged to be able to hear it. He didn’t even know how many times he’d lingered around the bathroom door or at the sink just to listen.

I thought with time you’d realize it’s over

No more food fights. No more throwing chips at each other or pelting each other with pretzels. No more ice cubes down his back. No more eating popcorn from Chris’s stomach while Chris shook with laughter.

It’s not the way I choose to live, and something somewhere’s got to give, as sharing this relationship gets older

No more wrestling for the remote. No more being trapped by Chris’s legs. No more being pinned by the weight of Chris’s body, by the look in Chris’s eyes. Chris was fun out of bed, to a ridiculous extent, but he was fun in bed, too, to the point that Trevor wasn’t always sure where the fun ended and the sex began. Sometimes, that flare of awareness through Chris’s eyes, that look of sexual recognition… It reminded Trevor that no matter how much they wrestled and played, they weren’t just friends. Couldn’t be just friends.

You know I’d fight for you, but how can I fight someone who isn’t even there

No more running commentary during commercials. No more running commentary during the show, either. Sometimes it was irritating as hell, but it was always hilarious. Sometimes Trevor joined in; sometimes he just let Chris roll with it. He loved the crazy ways that Chris’s mind worked. No matter how long he knew Chris, he’d never be able to follow every single leap of illogic, and he didn’t want to, either. The absurdity and mystery of it enchanted him.

I’ve had the rest of you, now I want the best of you, I don’t care if that’s not fair

No more making out. No more teasing kisses, flirtatious fingers, laughing against his neck. No more sizzling kisses or steamy looks or pimp moves. No more feeling like lust and love were knotted together inside him in the most inextricable way.

There are times it seems to me I’m sharing you with memories. I feel it in my heart but I don’t show it

No more sucking on Chris’s tongue, slowly jacking Chris’s dick, feeling Chris’s hips rise to fuck his hand. No more pressing as deeply as he could into Chris’s body and feeling Chris’s fingers dig into his skin. No more fucking Chris for as long as their bodies could take it, as long as his need could stand it, rocking and rocking and rocking just to keep going, because it felt so good so deep inside.

Then there’s times you look at me as though I’m all that you can see. Those times I don’t believe it’s right, I know it

No more listening to insane monologues. No more absolute freedom to express any thought in his head because he knew that he’d be understood. No more falling asleep knowing that he was sharing a bed with someone he loved. No more waking up with his favorite person in the world right there in his arms.

You and I could lose it all if you’ve got no more room, no room inside for me in your life

No more Chris.

Erik closed the silverware drawer and turned to Jacob. “Seriously, how long is he going to listen to that song? It’s been playing all morning. I’ve never been so sick of the sound of my own voice.”

Jacob shrugged, shutting the dishwasher. “He says he never realized how much it meant before.”

Erik glanced at the ceiling. “I never thought it was that hard to figure out.”

“Hey, guys.” Ashley beckoned from beyond the doorway. “Ssshhh, come here.”

“What?” Jacob asked.

“Ssshh,” Ashley repeated. “You have to see this.”

Jacob and Erik watched Ashley sneak off, looked at each other, shrugged, and followed. The three of them crept around towards the pool. Dan was sitting by the shallow end, dangling his feet. “What?” Erik whispered.

“He’s reading,” Ashley whispered.

“So?” Jacob asked.

Ashley grinned at them. “He’s reading poetry. Shakespeare’s sonnets.”

“What?” Jacob asked, startled. “Why?”

Erik watched Dan with curiosity. “You think we should call 911?”

Jacob smacked Erik’s shoulder and walked right over to Dan. “You’re reading Shakespeare?”

“What?” Dan asked, looking up at him. “Oh, yeah. Sorry, I was trying to figure this out. Yeah, I’m just reading some poems.”

“Why?” Erik asked. “You need some fancy lines to throw at Rebecca?”

“Shit,” Dan said, scrambling to his feet. “I forgot to call her!” He hurried off.

“It’s not for Rebecca?” Erik asked. He grinned suddenly. “Maybe it’s for Justin.”

“He didn’t say it’s not for Rebecca,” Ashley said.

“He didn’t say it is, either,” Erik said.

“If I wanted to seduce Justin Timberlake, I wouldn’t read him love poems,” Jacob said.

“And how would you do it, seducer of millions?” Erik asked.

Jacob shrugged. “I’d hand him a mirror.”

Joey, Justin, AJ, and Brian were sitting across one sofa. AJ had his hand in Justin’s lap, since Justin found their physical contact grounding; Justin was alternately gripping AJ’s hand, stroking AJ’s fingers, and running his own fingers over AJ’s rings and bracelets. Sometimes he openly stared at Kevin with fascinated need; whenever Kevin’s gaze turned in AJ’s direction, Justin looked down at AJ’s hand as though afraid to be noticed, afraid of Kevin’s anger after the incident in the kitchen.

Nick, Howie, and Kevin were on the other sofa. JC and Lance were in the armchairs. Chris had wanted to sit in another room somewhere, but Kevin had reached out and pulled him near, so he was perched beside Kevin on the sofa’s armrest as a compromise, toying with JC’s keys.

“You called this meeting,” Lance said to Brian. His tone was polite, but his eyes weren’t. “Why don’t you go ahead and start?”

“It’s about time for a general progress report,” Brian said. “It’s good for us all to check in with each other, to keep track of what everyone’s doing.” He folded his hands together, glancing down before looking around the room again. “I think that by now we all know what happened between Justin and Jacob. I don’t know about the five of you, but we found it pretty alarming.”

“How alarmed were you?” Joey asked, looking directly at Kevin. Justin stared at Joey in horror, but Joey was waiting for an answer.

“I think that it’s dangerous for anyone to be that out of control,” Kevin said with too much calm.

“I think it’s dangerous to have brainwashing sociopaths out on the loose,” Joey snapped.

AJ gave Justin his other hand, shaking out the first one. “Let’s change the subject before I lose a finger. We can get back to this later. As far as the progress reports go, Justin and I are working around his breakdowns, and it looks like we’ll pull everything off. Dan’s totally committed to saving Justin from me, and he’s willing to put himself on the line for the cause. Justin jumping Jacob proves how far gone he is and how much he needs Dan, and me jumping Jacob proves how much I love my little sweetheart here. Justin got an ‘I love you’ out of him, and I got a couple of orgasms out of him, so we’re pretty much on course.”

“I guess Dan likes fixer-uppers,” Nick said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lance asked before Nick’s mouth closed.

“Nothing,” Howie said, quickly and smoothly. “We all have to work together,” he told Nick. “It might help if some of us used more tact.”

“Tact my ass,” Nick said. “He belongs in a psych ward somewhere. And he’s not the only one.”

“Why don’t you give us a progress report?” Howie asked, before Lance and Joey could jump in. “How’s everything going with Ashley?”

“He’s so devoted to Joey, it’s disgusting,” Nick said. “Joey and I have worked out some of our who fucks who when problems. Right now, I’m just hanging out with Joey, Joey’s dividing his time between us, and we’re waiting for Ashley to drop the ‘him or me’ ultimatum.”

“I never did get a chance to ask you,” Brian said. “Why did you go over to the Townhouse yesterday to see Ashley?”

“Oh, yeah,” Nick said. “One of you had better tell Erik not to close doors in my face,” he told Howie and JC. “I went over to check on Ashley for Joey,” he said, getting back to Brian’s question. “I just wanted to see if AJ had traumatized him. He’s such a delicate little girl.”

“Why weren’t you doing it?” AJ asked Joey.

“I was here with Justin,” Joey said.

“Everybody was here with Justin,” AJ said. “You could have taken an hour to go check on your girl. What sense does it make for Nick to do it?”

“You must be one hell of a boyfriend, to check on Joey’s mistress for him,” Howie said to Nick.

“Somebody had to do it,” Nick said. “It should look like Joey cares what’s happening in Ashley’s life.”

“It looks like you care what happens in Ashley’s life,” AJ said. “It looks like Joey doesn’t give a shit.”

“I don’t give a shit,” Joey said, pissed off that they were bitching at him, not at all happy that AJ found fault with his behavior.

“It doesn’t matter if you actually care or not,” Kevin said. “I’m not interested in Trevor, either. But if you can’t even feign interest in him when someone tries to kill his best friend, then I don’t know why you’re here.”

“Justin wasn’t trying to kill anyone,” Joey snapped. “Jacob’s fine.”

“How do you know?” AJ asked. “Did you ask Ashley about it?” He shook his head, switching hands again. “You’re better than this, Joey. I know you can work it. You can make any woman feel like she’s the center of the world. All you have to do is work that Fatone charm on Ashley. This should be second nature for you.”

“Maybe that’s the problem,” Brian said. “Technically, Ashley’s not a girl. Are you having trouble getting into the role because Ashley’s a man?”

Joey wanted to punch something. “I’m not having trouble getting into the role,” he said tightly. “Ashley’s in love with me and he’ll do anything I want. I think I’m doing pretty damned well so far.”

“But wasn’t that true weeks ago?” Brian asked. “What’s your next step?”

“It sounds like you’re losing momentum,” Howie said. “We have to keep escalating.”

“Like Nick said, we’re waiting for Ashley to give me an ultimatum,” Joey said, wondering why he was alone on his side of the discussion, wondering if Lance or JC was ever going to step in and speak up on his behalf.

“How long have you been waiting for that?” AJ asked. “You have to push him. Don’t just wait for it, get him to do it. You’ve been working in the industry and picking up women for this long, and you don’t know how to manipulate people?”

“I think you’ve made your point,” Lance said. “Can we move on?”

“You need to take a break?” AJ asked Justin.

Justin looked across the room at Kevin. Kevin was looking at Brian. Justin lowered his gaze to AJ’s wrist. “No,” he said quietly.

“Let me know,” AJ said.

“JC,” Brian said with a smile. “We haven’t heard from you yet.”

“You still working your magic on Estrada?” AJ asked.

Chris, Joey, and Lance looked at Brian and AJ, then at JC, unsure. Their tones had sounded awfully…friendly.

JC adjusted his bracelet, glancing at Howie, then pushed his hair back, shifting his legs. “You know Howie and I got Erik to lie to the other guys for us. Now that they’ve accepted his apology for having sex with their girlfriends, he’s trapped in it. So he has to make this work with us, or else he’s jeopardized his friendship with them for nothing.”

“We’ve made sure that his first commitment is to us,” Howie said. “We’ve been moving things forward sexually, in gradual stages. It sounds like his new TV is popular. Since the clothes I bought him were ruined, I was thinking about taking him shopping again, with JC this time. Unless you want to take him by yourself?” he asked, deferring to JC.

“No,” JC said, aware of Lance’s eyes on him, put on the spot by Howie’s question. “I think that we should both go. He likes seeing us together.”

“Who wouldn’t?” AJ asked with a wicked grin.

JC blushed.

“So things are going pretty well?” Brian asked.

“Yeah,” JC said, since Brian was looking at him.

“Good.” Brian smiled, pleased.

“Did he tell you he loves you yet?” Nick asked.

“No,” JC said.

“Not yet,” Howie said. “It’s a more complex situation, since JC and I are already in an established relationship that Erik knows he isn’t a full partner of, and since he thinks of himself only as straight.”

“It should happen sooner or later,” Nick said, grinning at JC. “He won’t be able to resist JC for long.”

Joey rolled his eyes. A muscle twitched in Lance’s jaw.

“How about you?” Howie asked Kevin. “You want to share?”

“How do you think things are going?” Kevin asked Chris.

Chris didn’t lift his eyes from JC’s keys. “I try not to think about it.”

Kevin took the keys from him.

Chris picked at his cuticles. “I had a fight with Trevor. He’s in love with me and he thinks that I’m in love with you. He’s hurt and he isn’t calling me. I’m waiting for you to do your step in our nefarious scheme and give me the go-ahead to do my step.”

“I’m giving him a little time to miss you,” Kevin said. “But I can’t give him too much time, in case he gets over it enough to try to get back together with you.”

“That won’t happen anytime soon,” Chris said to his hands. “He hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you, he’s in love with you,” Kevin said.

“Sometimes it’s easy to get those two things confused,” Chris said. He snuck a peek at Lance.

Kevin gave the keys back to Chris.

AJ switched hands again. “Rok?” he asked. “How’s Jacob?”

“Jacob’s fine,” Brian said. “I’m keeping him entertained while Lance gets him ready for me. I’ve been keeping him very close to me, physically and emotionally. He counts on me for support and guidance and companionship.”

“You taught him how to take it?” Nick asked Lance.

“He’s not bad,” Lance said.

“As soon as Lance teaches him how to top, he’ll be ready,” Brian said.

“What’s the hold-up?” AJ asked.

“He hasn’t mastered bottoming yet,” Lance said. He was lying, and he didn’t regret it.

“You just said he’s not bad,” Nick said.

“He wants to be perfect for his precious Brian,” Lance said.

“How hard is it to teach somebody to fuck?” Nick asked. “You’ve been fucking Jacob for weeks. Are you incompetent?”

JC winced, wanting to break in, not knowing what to say. He didn’t want to get in the middle of Nick and Lance when he was already in the middle of Howie and Lance.

“No, I’m not incompetent,” Lance said firmly, not disguising his anger very well. “He was a virgin, he doesn’t know how to move, and he wants to get everything just right for Brian. Maybe you’re willing to put up with inferior moves and lousy partners just to get off, but-”

“Was that supposed to be an insult to JC or to Joey?” Nick asked.

“What?” Lance demanded. “I’m not talking about JC or Joey, I’m-”

“It sure as hell sounded like you were talking about somebody,” Nick said. “What, you’re jealous of JC?”

“I’m not jealous of anyone!” Lance couldn’t believe that Nick had the balls to-

“I’ve seen Jacob dance,” AJ said. “He’s not Justin, but he looks like he could figure out how to move in bed without months of training.”

“While you’re waiting for Jacob to get his act together, what else are you doing?” Kevin asked.

“What else?” Lance repeated.

“What,” Kevin said. “Else.”

Only AJ heard Justin mumble, “Kevin shouldn’t have to repeat himself.”

“Nothing,” Lance said. “Brian’s doing everything else.”

“That’s it?” AJ asked.

“That’s the way Brian set it up,” Lance said defensively.

“It’s Brian’s fault you’re sitting on your ass?” Nick asked.

“Wasn’t this whole thing your idea to begin with?” AJ asked.

“No,” Lance said, frustrated, “I wasn’t the only-”

“You could be in the Townhouse every day, planting seeds, working other angles,” Howie said. “You could be there to see any of these guys, and just happen to drop hints in front of anyone from O-Town. You could bring up anything in front of any of them - - AJ missing Justin, how good Chris and Kevin were together, how strong Nick and Joey’s relationship is, how mysteriously happy JC and Howie have been lately.”

“Or you could spend time with these guys away from O-Town, just for support,” Nick said.

“That’s all we’ve been doing for two days,” Lance argued. He was angry, put on the defensive. He felt like he was under attack, facing a barrage of questions, and it was hard to keep up, hard to maintain a strong line of defense. He hadn’t expected back-up from Justin or Chris, but he had expected it from Joey and JC, who were noticeably silent. Unfortunately, he understood why; he’d had trouble opening his mouth in Joey’s defense minutes earlier. It was hard to face down their sharp interrogation.

“What about the rest of this time?” Nick demanded. “They’re fucking falling apart! I see Joey all of the time, I call him, and you’re never around. How often do you hang out with Chris? How often do you spend time with Justin? Maybe you don’t want to hang out with JC, if you’re-”

“I am not jealous of JC!” Lance shouted.

Nick raised his eyebrows.

“This isn’t only about Lance,” Brian said. “This is about all five of you and this whole plan. I’m at the Townhouse a lot, I know what goes on there. I see Chris there almost every day, but I almost never see the rest of you. The five of you are friends, and the five of them are friends. It only makes sense for you to hang out and spend time together.”

“Double date,” AJ said. “Drop by together instead of separately. You can help each other out, pick up the slack. Reinforce ideas in their heads. Provide some back-up. Chris, if you’re there all of the time, what are you doing? Are you twiddling your thumbs with Trevor, or are you making the rounds, talking to the other guys, dropping hints, putting thoughts in their heads?”

“Chris?” Kevin asked, when Chris didn’t reply.

“I don’t know, I just kind of hang out,” Chris said, glancing at Kevin and then down at the keys again.

“Joey, even when you are there, all you do is have sex with Ashley and leave,” Brian said. “It would be great if you could get out of bed and help the rest of us.”

“Why should Ashley stay in love with someone who only fucks him?” Kevin asked. “Sex goes a long way, but that’s not going to keep the love there when you need it. Romance him.”

“Chris and Justin are in this every day,” Howie said. “You should be helping them, instead of leaving them with the largest burdens. Spend time with Ashley and with Chris and Trevor at the same time. If Brian’s with Jacob and you think you can’t do anything with that angle, then you can drop by Justin’s house while Dan’s there.”

“Are the five of you actually friends?” Nick asked. “You can’t really be that close if you can’t even come up with obvious, simple ways to support each other.”

“You could even take time away from the game,” Brian said. “It keeps sounding to me like all Justin does is separate his time between Dan and AJ. You should take each other away from this sometimes. Go out together without taking anyone else along. Go out of state for a day or two if you really need a break. The rest of us can keep things going here.”

“You have to be able to separate this from reality,” AJ said. “Justin isn’t Dan’s best friend. Don’t get confused about what’s real and what’s just another part of the game.”

“Then clear it up for me,” Lance said. “Justin’s not Dan’s friend. Is Justin your friend? You’re having sex with him, you’re sitting there holding hands, does that make you friends? Lovers? You just fucked Joey upstairs yesterday. Does that make him your friend? Your lover?”

“Justin and I are never going to be friends,” AJ said. “We don’t want to be friends. Joey and I had sex because I like the way he fucks and he likes the way I fuck. That doesn’t make us anything except what we are.”

“And what are you?” Lance asked.

“I have to know,” Nick said, sitting forward, “Lance, what the fuck is your problem?”

“My problem is that I don’t like being fucked with!” Lance shouted.

“Who the hell’s fucking with you?” Nick demanded. “Who? Am I fucking with you? Is AJ?”

“How do I know?” Lance asked, furious. “I didn’t think that Howie was fucking with me, and he was. It sure as hell seems like Brian’s fucking with me, but he’ll never admit it.”

“Brian’s not fucking with you,” Nick said, disgusted. “What are you, paranoid?”

“Sure looks like it,” AJ said.

“Stop, stop,” Brian said, shushing Nick and AJ. “Give him a chance to explain. I want to be sure I understand.”

“It’s not that hard to comprehend,” Lance snapped. “I trusted Howie. He was manipulating me and betraying me and never meant a word that he said. Now I can’t get anything out of him and you’re drowning me in hearts and flowers. It’s a pretty simple question. Are the five of you fucking with us now, or not?”

“And if we were, we’d tell you?” Nick asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be smart?”

“This isn’t about me,” Brian said to Lance. “This is about Howie. Everything’s about Howie for you.”

“That’s his damned problem,” Nick said. “One of them, anyway. Lance can’t get over Howie, so he can’t work with Brian. Justin started off giving AJ a hard time because he couldn’t get over Kevin. We’re never going to get anything accomplished if you guys can’t learn to start focusing on the people right in front of you. Maybe if Lance spent less time obsessing over Howie and more time focusing on Brian and Jacob, something would get done.”

“It’s like that for all of you,” AJ said. “You guys have to rein it in. Get a grip. You can’t change the past, you can’t change what happened. You’re banging your heads on a brick wall.”

“We understand that the past complicates things now,” Howie said. “But some of you seem to be having real trouble moving on.”

“We’ve been trying to keep our distance,” Kevin said. “As soon as we figured out how hard things were getting for you, we backed off. Justin was desperate for my attention, so I gave it to him. I thought that it would be better for him if he had a chance to be with me again. It had the opposite effect, he got worse, so I backed away and cut him off.”

“We’re leaving you alone,” Brian said. “We’re not calling you up or taking you out or trying to start anything. You’re the ones coming after us. You come to our houses, you break into our houses, you call us and call us.”

“It’s like being stalked,” Kevin said.

“You’re only making it harder on yourselves,” Howie said.

“You’re starting to make it harder on us,” Nick added.

“Justin calls you every day and breaks into your house because he’s obsessed with you,” Joey said. “Whose fault is that? He didn’t brainwash himself. He never gave a shit about you before you messed with him.”

“If I’m such a bad influence on Justin, why aren’t you keeping him away from me?” Kevin asked. “That first meeting, right here in this house, I asked Justin if he wanted a ride home. Not one of you stopped him from leaving with me. At the club, in the booth, after O-Town left, three of you left Justin behind with me. Chris was the only one there to keep Justin from going home with me, and he never said a word.”

“Why don’t you look out for each other?” AJ asked. “Why the hell don’t you get your heads out of your asses and pay attention? You’re so busy worrying about yourselves that you don’t spend a second worrying about each other.”

“If you’re leaving us alone, why are you having sex with Joey?” Lance asked.

“It’s sex,” AJ said. “I’m not dating him, we don’t have dinner together. Joey knows how to separate sex from love. Everybody needs a good fuck once in a while. JC can’t separate sex from love when it comes to Nick, so Nick’s keeping his distance. Justin can’t separate fantasy from reality when it comes to Kevin, so Kevin cut him off for Justin’s own mental health.”

“As far as I can tell, the only person who’s really interested in helping Justin has been Dan,” Brian said. “No wonder Justin is getting too attached. He thinks that he’s in love with Kevin, and when Kevin rejects him, the only person who gives him any support is the person he’s supposed to be after. You’ve all been so worried about yourselves you’ve abandoned Justin, and the only person he can depend on is Dan. I’d start to get attached, too.”

“We’re all working together,” Howie said. “If you can see each other struggling, help each other out.”

“You shouldn’t be focused only on your primary target,” Kevin said. “Everything we’re doing overlaps.”

“Just think of how everyone else’s relationship affects yours,” Brian said. “For us, as Nick’s friends, Ashley is the other woman, so we treat him that way. Maybe you should start to question Erik’s friendship with Howie and JC. Ask what he’s getting out of it. Is he getting too close? Does he want to break them up? Be suspicious.”

“No wonder you need to bring us in,” Nick said. “You guys don’t have a clue about what you’re doing.”

“No, that’s not fair,” Brian said. “I’m sure that they have a lot of ideas.”

“We’ve been monopolizing the conversation,” Howie said. “You probably have your own criticisms and suggestions for us, about how we’ve been handling O-Town.”

Joey looked at Lance.

Chris toyed with JC’s keys.

Lance looked at JC.

Justin glanced at Kevin in his peripheral vision.

Nick snorted. “Are we done here?”

“Not yet,” Howie said. “Justin, we’ve all heard what happened between you and Jacob, but none of us were actually there. Are you okay?”

“Does he look okay?” Joey asked.

“He’s fine,” Lance said firmly. “We’re taking care of him.”

“He doesn’t look taken care of,” Nick said. “He looks like shit.”

“Hey,” Brian said. “We’re all in this together. We’re all concerned.” He looked around the room, ensuring silence. “Justin,” he said, turning everyone’s attention back to the point. “Are you okay?”

Justin released AJ’s hand, glancing at Kevin who happened to be looking at Brian. “I’m okay,” he said, sitting up straighter. His gaze twitched around the room. “I just got upset.”

“Upset about what?” Nick asked. “Jacob yelling at you?”

“I told him to stop,” Justin said, his gaze flickering from Kevin to AJ and back again. “He wouldn’t, and I… I lost it. But I’m okay now,” he said, forcing his voice to sound more firm.

“Can you keep going?” Howie asked. “With the game. Do you need to stop?”

“No,” Justin said quickly. “I mean, yes, I mean, no - - I’m okay. I can keep going. I don’t want to stop,” he insisted, staring at Kevin. “I can do it.”

“Okay,” Brian said. “You let us know if you need help.”

“Maybe you could get these guys to support you,” Nick said. “If they’re not too busy fucking up.”

“You-”

“I think we all have to admit that we’re not working very well together,” Brian said, cutting off Lance. “Overall, you don’t trust us, and we don’t know you. I’ve barely ever spoken to Joey. I hardly know Justin. I’d like to get to know JC better.”

“That’s true,” Howie said. “We really don’t know each other that well. I know about Joey and Justin and Chris, from Lance and JC, but I don’t really know you as people.”

“Maybe we should all do something together,” Brian said. “Something less formal.”

“That’s the worst idea I’ve ever heard,” Lance said.

“A party?” Howie asked.

“We could barbecue,” Kevin said.

“AJ’s place?” Brian asked.

“Who’s interested?” AJ asked. “What about you?” he asked Justin.

Justin glanced at Kevin, swallowed, and lowered his gaze. “Okay.”

“Who else?” AJ asked. “Chris? JC?”

“I’d love to,” Chris said without looking up from his hands.

JC hesitated, looking around the room. Justin and Chris couldn’t say no, and he couldn’t abandon them. “Okay.” Maybe it wouldn’t be horrible.

“You think that putting the ten of us together is going to be a friendly get-together?” Joey asked.

“Justin and Chris are the last people who should be there,” Lance said.

“I’d rather have them there than you,” Nick said.

“Nick,” Brian said.

“He’s a prick,” Nick said.

“You’re an asshole,” Lance said.

“We’ll call you to let you know when the barbecue is,” Kevin said. “If you want to show up or not, that’s your decision. The five of us will be there.” He stood. “Chris, walk me out.”

Chris didn’t look at Brian directly, but his gaze found Brian’s feet.

Kevin hooked his fingers under Chris’s necklace and started to walk away.

Chris slid down from the armrest and followed Kevin to the foyer.

Kevin released his necklace, cupping his chin and looking into his eyes. Chris looked up, wondering what Brian was doing in the other room, wondering what Justin was thinking. Kevin kissed him, and he closed his eyes, lips parting for the slow possession of his mouth. One hand rose; he stroked the contours of Kevin’s face, soothed by the familiar strong features.

Kevin lifted his head. “Do you want to come with me or stay here?”

“I have to stay,” Chris said. “Brian’s here. And I don’t want to leave Justin.”

Kevin kissed him. “I’ll call you,” Kevin said, and left.

While the front door closed behind Kevin, Nick walked down the hallway with Joey. “Don’t be pissed at me because the guys had some good points. It wouldn’t hurt for you to get your dick out of Ashley’s ass and work a little harder on helping out everybody else. And you should give him some more romance. He eats that shit up.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Lance shouted, unseen. “No!”

“Why did you let him into your group?” Nick asked Joey.

“Fuck you,” Joey said. “Lance is-”

“Whatever,” Nick said, kissing him on the mouth and opening the front door. “Call me.” Nick left.

“Fucking asshole,” Joey muttered.

“Get back to me when you’ve discovered reality,” Lance said, and stormed down the hallway. He disappeared. A door slammed.

“Lance yelled at Brian,” Chris said to Joey.

“Yeah, I got that,” Joey said.

“That’s not good,” Chris said.

“Yeah, I…” Joey stopped talking and looked at Chris, considering. “Why not?” he asked carefully.

Chris met Joey’s eyes. “I can’t tell you that.”

Joey frowned, about to press for more, but stopped at the sound of AJ’s voice.

“-serious attitude adjustment,” AJ said from the next room. “Starting with my foot up his ass.”

“No, no, it’s okay,” Brian said. AJ, Brian, and Howie drifted just into the hallway. “He’s just upset.”

“Looks to me like Nick’s right,” AJ said. “He’s paranoid.”

“He’s feeling defensive,” Howie said. “He feels like he’s under attack. We were pretty hard on him.”

“Hard on him?” AJ repeated. “We let him off easy! These fools-”

“AJ,” Howie said, cutting him off with a glance back into the room to where JC and Justin were watching.

“Fine, maybe JC has his shit together with Erik,” AJ said. “But look at the rest of them! They’re running around like chickens with their heads cut off, flopping and flailing! They can’t get anything done, they can’t stay focused for more than two minutes at a time, they have no fucking clue what they’re doing or how to help each other out - - they’re wasting our time! This morning was a perfect example. Lance throwing orange juice, Justin throwing glasses and fighting everybody, JC couldn’t even pull an outfit together, the place was chaos. And now The Great Lance Bass is trying to tell us-”

“He doesn’t trust me,” Brian said. “He doesn’t trust any of us, and I can’t blame him.” Looking defeated, Brian rubbed his hand over his hair. “I didn’t expect this to be so hard. I was so excited about finally getting a chance to get close to him, and…” Brian sighed, dropping his hand. “I should give up, I know I should give up.”

“He’s not worth it,” AJ said.

“He’s so amazing, AJ, you just don’t know him,” Brian said. “He’s been hurt, he’s defensive, he’s scared of being hurt again. That’s what makes him so angry and so bitter and so confrontational.”

“He’s an asshole, and you deserve better,” AJ said.

Brian glanced down the hallway and saw Joey and Chris. “Let’s not do this here,” he said softly to AJ.

“They know you’re in love with him,” AJ said. “They know what an ass he is, too.”

“It has to hurt Chris to hear this,” Brian said. “And it hurts me when you talk about Lance that way, so please don’t.” He looked in the direction that Lance had gone. “I guess I’ll go.”

“Back to Jacob?” AJ asked, walking him to the front door.

“Yeah.” Brian stopped in front of Chris. “It’s good to see you again,” he said.

Chris met Brian’s eyes. So beautiful. “I love you.”

“And you’re the one Lance thinks is out of touch with reality?” AJ asked Brian.

“Don’t-”

“This is ridiculous!” AJ protested. “The past is the past, what happened has already happened, nobody can do anything about that. We’re giving them the room to move on, we’re giving them all the space they need, and we’re the bad guys? Lance is the one calling Howie twenty times a day! Kevin hasn’t broken into Justin’s house!”

“You know how complex emotions are,” Brian said. “It can be hard to let go.” He smiled sympathetically at Chris and left.

“Am I leading you on?” AJ asked Joey.

Joey wished that he could say yes. “No.”

“Lance has problems,” AJ told Howie. “He’s paranoid, and he wants to convince everybody that he’s right. It’s easy to get them to believe the worst about us, because we hurt them.”

“What are you saying?” Howie asked.

“They think Kevin brainwashed Justin?” AJ asked. “Lance is the one brainwashing them. We’re fucking with them, it’s a vast conspiracy - - it’s propaganda. Lance hates us, he’s paranoid, he can’t get over what happened, and he can’t stand to see everyone else getting over it, so he’s making sure it doesn’t die.”

Howie frowned, then looked towards the back of the house. “Maybe I should talk to him.”

“Good luck,” AJ said. “Justin!”

Chris looked at Joey. Joey looked back at him.

“Justin!” AJ shouted.

“Hold your damned horses,” Justin muttered, coming to the foyer, JC following.

“Feeling better?” AJ asked.

“Is Kevin really leaving me alone for my own good?” Justin asked. “That means he cares.” He gripped AJ’s wrist, staring intently into AJ’s eyes. “You have to tell me if it’s true. You have to tell me if he really cares.”

“You know that nothing I say is going to make a difference,” AJ said. “You’re going to go over this and over it, every word he said, the sound of his voice, what he might have meant, until none of it makes any sense and you’re more confused than you were before. Kevin said what he said. Maybe it was true and maybe it wasn’t. As far as I’m concerned, Kevin doesn’t lie. Ask Lance, he’ll tell you it’s all a conspiracy.” AJ kissed Justin. “Call me.” He patted Joey’s ass and left.

“Lance isn’t paranoid,” Joey said.

“I wouldn’t blame him if he is,” Chris said.

Joey looked at Chris, wondering. Suspicious.

JC looked at Howie with equal parts anticipation and reluctance. “Do you want to go somewhere and talk?”

“I’d like to talk to Lance, if that’s okay with you,” Howie said.

Since Howie was sincere and not merely saying the words, JC was forced to answer. “I don’t think he’s in the mood.”

“I’d like to try,” Howie said. “I’ll meet you at your house?”

“Are you staying here?” JC asked Justin.

“I think we should get out of this house for a while,” Joey said. “We can go to my place.”

“You should go see Ashley,” Justin said.

Joey glanced at Howie, then told Justin, “I want to get you settled first.”

“We can go to your place,” Justin agreed. “Chris and I can hang out.” He met Chris’s eyes. Chris tried to smile. Justin tried to smile back.

“Okay,” JC said. “I’ll go with them, and then meet you at my place,” he said to Howie.

“Okay,” Howie said. After a brief moment’s hesitation, he kissed JC’s cheek. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

“I hope I’ll see you at the barbecue,” Howie said to the rest of them.

“It’ll be fun,” Chris said.

“It’ll be hell on earth,” Joey said, ope