"What's taking so long?" Chris asked the room as he paced back and forth, chewing on his fingernails.
"Chris! Would you just sit down? You're driving me crazy!!!" Joey exploded as a tear ran down his cheek. Lance scooted closer to him and put his arm around his shoulders. Joey leaned into him, letting his tears soak Lance's shirt.
"Lynn?" Lonnie stepped in the room. "Umm, Karen's here." In walked Karen Chasez, prepared to hug the blonde woman.
"Karen, hi." Johnny said as Lynn wrapped her arms around her.
"I'm so sorry, Lynn. I didn't... Josh never... we just..."
"It's o.k." Lynn said, her face buried in the woman's shoulder. "I know you had nothing to do with it." They hugged for a long time before sitting down on a couch in the corner of the room.
Suddenly, Lance's pager went off, so he stepped outside with Lonnie to make a phone call on his cell. When he returned, his face was full of relief. "My mom's coming. She said your mom's are coming, too." he said, gesturing to Chris and Joey.
Within minutes, the waiting room was filled with additional people. Bev, Phillis, Joe Sr., Diane, and Melinda all showed up, and more were coming. Joey's brother was coming, as well as Chris' sisters, the rest of Justin's family, plus extra security for the large group.
~*~
"Lance! Lance!" Chris whispered to his friend. Everyone who was still at the hospital was asleep- except for Chris. He looked around at the goup. Joey was on the floor snoring, Lynn was on the couch with a blanket covering her, Johnny had fallen asleep at a table covered in paperwork, Melinda was quietly snoozing at the end of Lynn's couch, and Lance was in a chair, covered with Joey's "Superman" hoodie.
"Huh? I'm the second "N" in "*NSYNC", not the first one." Lance mumbled sleepily. Chris smiled to himself, please with the welcome distracton.
"Lance?" he asked.
"Hmm?"
"Are you asleep?"
"Mmm-hmm."
"Lance, what's Joey's biggest secret?"
"Hmm? Uh, he still..."
"Still what, Lance?"
"...sucks his thumb." Chris giggled quietly before continuing.
"Lance, who's your favorite Backstreet Boy?"
"No, Justin's the youngest."
"No, no, no, Lance, tell me who your favorite Backstreet Boy is." Chris replied, taking advantage of his sleeping bandmate.
"Mmmm. I like Nick. He's got pretty eyes." Lance muttered.
Laughing, Chris gently shook the younger man. "Lance? Will you go outside with me?"
"Huh? What?" Lance's eyes opened slowly as he stretched.
"Do you wanna go outside with me?"
"Yeah." he said, slipping Joey's hoodie over his head.
~*~
Neither of them spoke until they got outside. The night air was cool and crisp.
"Why did JC do it?" Chris asked softly, his hands in his pockets as he stared out at the night sky.
Lance inhaled deeply, letting the air chill his lungs. "I don't know."
"Were you in on it, too?"
"God, no, Chris! How could you say that?!?"
"I'm sorry. I had to ask." They were silent for a moment, just listening to the chirp of crickets.
"What'd Justin say to you today?" Lance asked, crossing his arms.
"Nothing. He said he was sorry. He cried, then all that stuff happened."
"Sorry for what?"
"The thing with the knife. I guess JC did that, not Justin." Chris shrugged.
"J really did the other stuff, though?"
Chris looked at Lance, his hands still in his pockets. "I'm not crazy, Lance." He turned his attention back to the stars.
"I never said-" Lance started.
"You all thought so, though." Chris cut him off. "It wasn't at all difficult for you guys to believe it. I've always been the 'crazy one'. And after everything I've gone through in the past couple of months, it seemed like no surprise to you that I could break down and lose my mind."
Lance took a step closer before responding. "I don't think you're crazy. I believe you. I know that you were set up. I've known that since you called me from Oak Wood that night. And I'm sorry if it didn't seem like I believed you before."
Chris smiled sadly. "Since this all happened, I've wondered what it would be like to hear those words. And now that I hear them, it's like... nothing."
"That's because your 'big brother' instinct kicked in and it over-powered your anger. That's also why you're too worried about Justin to care why JC did this to you in the first place."
"Do you think Justin will be o.k.?" Chris asked quietly, almost hoping that if he didn't say the words, then it wouldn't be real.
"I don't know. It doesn't look good."
Chris exhaled heavily. "JC's in so much trouble. I know he did all this, but I still love him. He's still my brother."
"I know. Me too."
"I have to talk to him." Chris decided quickly.
"What?!?" Lance's eyes were wide.
"I have to talk to JC." And with that, Chris turned to re-enter the building. Before pulling the door open, though, he turned to Lance. "Nick, huh?"
Story Tags: chris
