The early morning sun warmed Chris’s back as he sat on the kitchen counter in front of the window. He’d been up for a while, so he was already dressed and enjoying his breakfast. It was just toast and coffee because he hadn’t felt like actually cooking something, but that was perfectly fine with him. Lynn spoiled them with all the cooking she did.

A peaceful quiet encompassed the house, broken only by the rhythmic pulse of the washing machine in the next room. Lynn had been doing laundry ever since Chris had gotten up, which was nearly forty-five minutes ago. He could hear her humming and figured she was folding clothes.

As he took another bite of toast, Chris registered that the soft humming stopped. That was when Lynn stepped out of the laundry room with a t-shirt in her hands. “Joey,” she said. “Is this yours?”

Joey, who’d been searching the cupboards for something to eat, turned around to look at the t-shirt that she was now holding up. He eyed it for a second before he shook his head and said, “That’s JC’s.”

Lynn nodded her thanks and walked back into the laundry room. She did laundry for the other guys since they didn’t exactly have time to do it themselves. But Chris insisted on doing his himself. He was used to doing it and felt that he didn’t need Lynn to mother him as much since he was the oldest.

Chris popped the last piece of toast into his mouth before wiping the crumbs off his hands just as Justin walked into the room. He greeted him with a smile, and Justin acknowledged it with a grunt as he went straight for the cabinet that held the dishes. Time for his daily bowl of cereal.

Joey placed a Pop Tart into the toaster, having decided what he wanted. He sighed and rested his left elbow on the counter in front of him, rubbing at his eyes. A loud yawn escaped his lips, and he dropped his head tiredly.

“God, I’m so tired,” Joey moaned as he straightened.

“Aren’t we all,” Chris muttered. They’d been keeping to the same routine for a week now, so you’d think they’d be used to it by now. But they all dragged this early in the morning, especially since they worked all day and hardly got time to relax.

“I need a night out,” Joey said.

“You wanna go to Citrus tonight?” Chris asked. Justin, who’d reached past Joey for the box of Apple Jacks, rolled his eyes at that before taking his cereal to the table where he’d placed his bowl.

Joey sighed. “We always go there. We should go somewhere else.”

“How about that place that’s across from the movie theater? Tabu,” Chris suggested.

“Yeah,” Joey agreed, smiling. “We can even get McDonald’s afterwards. You know, late night snack.”

Justin mumbled something to himself as he put the milk back in the fridge, having added it to his cereal. Chris frowned, but ignored his behavior. He’d be better once he ate his breakfast.

“Sounds like a plan,” Chris said, returning his attention to Joey.

They were interrupted by the toaster popping up. Joey grabbed the Pop Tart and wrinkled his nose in disgust at it. So he tossed the charred pastry into the garbage and put another Pop Tart in the toaster, setting the toaster on a lower level.

“I can’t believe you just wasted a perfectly good Pop Tart,” Chris said.

“Perfectly good?” Joey echoed, looking at him in disbelief. “It was black.”

Chris shrugged. “I would’ve eaten it.”

“Well, you’re weird,” Joey said, and Chris couldn’t help but smile. That hadn’t been the first time Joey had forgotten to change the setting on the toaster and had thrown out burnt food because of it. But it still amused Chris when it happened.

Lynn came out of the laundry room, closing the door behind her. She was carrying a basket full of clothes and had nearly crossed the kitchen when she frowned at Justin. He was dumping some sugar onto his already sugary cereal.

“Sweetie, why don’t you take it easy with the sugar, huh?” Lynn said, setting the laundry basket on the other end of the table as she focused her attention on Justin.

Justin glared up at his mom from where he was sitting at the table. “Would you just leave me alone?” he snapped.

Chris stared at his youngest friend in surprise. He’d never heard him actually yell at Lynn before in the month that he’d known him. Sure, he’d sounded annoyed with her mothering, but never had he snapped at her like that. But clearly, this was something that Lynn was used to.

“I just don’t think you need that much sugar,” Lynn said. Justin just rolled his eyes and went back to eating his cereal.

“What’s the matter, Justy? Get up on the wrong side of the bed today?” Chris teased, drawing Justin’s piercing gaze to him.

Chris could practically see Justin grinding his teeth together and working his jaw like he was going to say something when his attention was grabbed by his mom. Lynn had taken the cereal box off the table and closed it before taking it back to the cabinet Justin had gotten it out of earlier. And if the angry expression on Justin’s face was any indication, it wasn’t something that was appreciated.

Just then JC tiredly shuffled into the room, looking like he just rolled out of bed. He was still dressed in his pajamas and his hair was sticking up in odd places. It’d been his day to sleep in a bit longer, so Chris was kind of surprised to see him up already because he hadn’t expected him for another half hour.

“Nice hair, man,” Chris greeted, smirking slightly.

JC just hummed in agreement as he reached into the cupboard for a mug and poured himself a cup of coffee. Lynn turned and frowned slightly when she saw what he was doing.

“Aren’t you a little young to be drinking coffee?” she asked, watching as JC poured some milk into it.

“Let the man have his coffee,” Chris said, coming to JC’s defense. JC still looked half asleep and probably didn’t know what to say. “It’s not like he’d be bouncing off the walls like Justin.”

Lynn smiled, while Chris noticed Justin’s face twist at the slight jab out of the corner of his eye. It was obvious that Justin’s mood wasn’t improving, but Chris was going to leave him alone for the moment. He glanced over at Joey, who was fighting another yawn and JC, who looked equally as tired.

“Hey, Jace,” Chris said, waiting until JC’s blue eyes met his own brown. “Me and Joey are going to Tabu tonight. You interested?”

JC shrugged and nodded. “Sure.”

“Is that really such a good idea? Shouldn’t you stay home and rest your shoulder?” Lynn asked, her forehead creased with concern.

“I feel fine,” JC said. “I mean, it’s a little stiff, but I just woke up.”

“I just don’t want you overdoing it and injuring it further,” Lynn said.

“I’ll come home if it starts to hurt. I promise,” JC told her.

“Alright,” she agreed and offered him a smile. “You boys better finish eating. You’re going to have to leave soon.”

They nodded and Lynn picked up the laundry basket before walking out of the room. The toaster popped then for the second time, but Joey let it sit there as he went into the fridge for the carton of orange juice. He pulled down a glass from the cabinet next to the sink.

“So what’s the plan for tonight?” Chris asked.

Joey closed the carton and said, “We drop off Lance and Baby J, and then we head out.”

“What about dinner?” Chris asked.

“We can grab something on the way there,” Joey said. “No way am I missing out on dinner.”

Chris looked over at JC, who’d yet to say anything about their plans. “Sound good?” he asked.

JC swallowed a mouthful of coffee and said, “Yeah.”

Joey grinned and patted him on the shoulder. He tossed the Pop Tart on his plate before grabbing it and the glass. With his breakfast in hand, Joey walked into the living room, and JC refilled his mug before following him.

That left just Chris and Justin in the kitchen. Chris took that opportunity to really look at Justin. He’d been a lot quieter than he normally was, even with him eating his cereal. The only exception being when he’d yelled at Lynn.

Justin’s mouth seemed to be set in a permanent frown. He was staring at his bowl as he played with the food that was still floating in the milk. But he was very stiff, especially with how he was sitting. Chris had never seen Justin look so mature before. And it made him think that there was something bothering Justin other than usual morning grouchiness.

“What’s wrong, J? Why you in such a bad mood?” Chris asked. Justin didn’t say anything, but grunted as he shoved a spoonful of Apple Jacks into his mouth. There was a slight pause before Chris tried again. “Teenage hormones acting up?”

Justin released his spoon, letting it clang loudly against the porcelain bowl. He scowled at Chris as he propelled the chair backwards and rose to his feet. Without another glance at Chris, Justin stormed out of the kitchen towards his bedroom.

Chris watched him go and frowned. It was so weird to see Justin so miserable since he was usually always in a good mood and energetic. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t have a bad day now and then. And that’s what Chris was attributing it to. After all, what they were doing was hard on Justin, especially since he was still a kid.

Lance stared out the window from the backseat of Lynn’s car. She was taking him and Justin to the movies. It’d been Justin’s idea to go because he’d wanted to see a movie for almost a week, but they’d never had the time. Though, there was more to it than that.

Justin had made it pretty obvious that he didn’t want to just sit at home while the other guys were out clubbing. Not that Lance was complaining. Their days were so busy that it’d be nice to spend a few hours relaxing, especially after today’s rehearsal.

Dave had to skip over the bridge of Tell Me That I’m Dreaming since JC couldn’t do the flip and it would’ve looked off with only three of them doing back flips. The rest of the routine had gone a lot slower than normal because Dave wanted to take it slow for JC’s sake, even though JC had continuously insisted that he was fine.

Finally, they’d decided to move onto a new routine because there was still more they needed to work on. They started learning the steps for Give into Me. The difficulty wasn’t as high as the other songs, but it was still hard to get the new moves while keeping the old ones straight. So a night of relaxation was more than deserved.

The car came to a stop and Lynn turned in her seat to smile at Lance. “I’ll be back here at twelve-thirty to pick you boys up.”

“Mom,” Justin complained, rolling his eyes. “We’re gonna be late.”

“Alright. Go enjoy the movie and I’ll see you right out front afterwards,” Lynn said, handing Justin a twenty dollar bill.

“Thanks, Mom,” Justin said as he pushed open the passenger door. Lance echoed his words of thanks before getting out. Together the two of them walked into the movie theater and stepped up to the end of the line for the ticket counter.

There were at least four people in front of them, but it seemed to be moving fairly quickly. Lance looked up at the show times on the board and glanced down at his watch. They’d had at least ten minutes before the movie started.

“We’ll have just enough time to stop at the concession stand,” Lance said.

“Uh huh.” Justin’s attention was focused out the huge glass window as he muttered to himself, “C’mon.”

Lance frowned as he stepped forward, the line having moved. He looked over his shoulder, wondering what Justin was staring at. All he could see was Lynn’s car pulling away from the front of the building and heading down the street, back towards the house. But apparently that was what Justin had been waiting for because he walked out of line and towards the door they’d just come through.

“Justin, what are you doing?” Lance asked, following him, knowing that he wouldn’t get an answer if he didn’t.

Justin glanced over at him in disbelief before he said, “Leaving.”

“But what about the movie?”

“We’re going to do something better,” Justin said as he led them to the crosswalk and pressed the button.

“What?” Lance asked, sure that he wasn’t going to like the answer, but wanted to know why Justin was hiding it behind the guise of seeing a movie.

“We’re going to Tabu,” Justin told him.

Lance stared at him. “You mean the club that Chris, Joey, and JC are at?”

“It’s not fair that they always go out without us,” Justin said.

Lance sighed, but started to cross the street when Justin pulled on the fabric of his t-shirt. He really shouldn’t have been surprised because Justin had made such a big stink about the others going clubbing the last time they went out. And Lance could understand where he was coming from. That didn’t mean he agreed with this sudden impromptu trip to a club they weren’t even able to go to though.

“How exactly are we going to get in?” Lance asked. “We’re underage, remember?”

“We sneak in the back,” Justin said as if it were obvious.

“Don’t you think they’d have bouncers back there to prevent that kind of thing?”

Justin shook his head. “I doubt it. I mean, how many people really try to go in through the back?”

Lance didn’t have an answer as they started to walk past the front entrance of the club. They rounded the corner and entered a dimly lit alley. Immediately, he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up and he glanced over his shoulder. He didn’t expect anything to be there, but he couldn’t help the uneasy feeling that came over him.

“Can’t we just go back to the movie theater?” Lance asked, not liking sneaking around a dark alley at such a late hour.

“We can’t go back now. We’re nearly there,” Justin said.

Lance wanted to point out that it’d be easy to turn back because all they’d done was cross the street. It wasn’t like they’d had to walk twenty blocks just to try to sneak into this club. But he didn’t bother because he knew that Justin wouldn’t listen. He seemed to have his mind made up and probably would only abandon the idea if they couldn’t get in.

Just then they reached the end of the alley, and Lance sighed in relief when he saw a tall fence between them and the back door to the club. He figured Justin would realize what a bad idea it was and turn around. Instead, Justin grabbed onto the fence and carefully started to climb.

“C’mon, Lance,” Justin called to him once he was halfway up and glanced over his shoulder to see that Lance was still standing at the base of the fence.

Lance wanted to protest about how dangerous it was and that he was crazy, but Justin was already nearing the top of the fence. They’d passed the point of backing out of this. So with much reluctance, Lance thread each hand through an open diamond in the fence and slowly climbed up, wishing that they’d just stayed at the movie theater.

JC stood on the second level of the club, leaning against the balcony railing. He’d been at the bar earlier, but left shortly after he’d gotten his drink. The club was crowded, and he’d lost sight of Chris a while ago. Last time he’d seen him, he’d been dancing with a leggy blonde.

The balcony hadn’t been too congested when JC had first gotten there, but it seemed that more people were joining him. Not that he’d expected anything less. From what he’d heard this nightclub was one of the best in the area.

Taking a sip from his water bottle, JC scanned the dance floor below him and watched all of the people dance to the song that was currently blasting from large speakers. He vaguely wondered where Joey had gone off to because he’d seen him at the bar nearly fifteen minutes ago. But he figured Joey was somewhere dancing with the girl he’d been chatting with earlier.

“Hey, man!” a voice greeted as a hand fell onto his shoulder. JC couldn’t help but flinch in surprise at the touch, even as he recognized the voice to be Joey’s.

JC turned slightly and offered his friend a smile. “Hey, Joe. Having fun?”

“Loads,” Joey said with a big grin. “What about you? I haven’t really seen you dance.”

JC gave a one shoulder shrug, trying to be mindful of his injury. “I don’t really feel like it.”

“You should at least hit it up with some girl.” Joey’s eyes scanned the crowd before he gently nudged JC and pointed to a petite brunette sitting at the bar. “There. Go buy her a drink and talk to her.”

JC didn’t really feel like striking up a conversation with some girl that he didn’t even know. The only reason he’d really wanted to come was to hopefully tire himself out, so he could actually get some sleep. But he didn’t want to make a big deal about just wanting to hang out, so he nodded at Joey and headed downstairs towards the bar.

As JC made his way through the throng of people, he could easily see how pretty this girl was. She had long, flowing hair and beautiful brown eyes. It was kind of too bad that he wasn’t interested because she definitely was his type. But that was certainly the last thing on his mind at the moment.

“Can I buy you a drink?” JC asked, leaning in so she could hear him once he’d reached the bar. Since he wasn’t twenty-one, he wasn’t able to buy alcoholic drinks and the red wristband on his left wrist made sure the bartenders knew it. However, he could pay for her drink if she ordered something alcoholic.

“Oh, well, I’ve already got one,” she said as she gestured to a glass full of a red liquid. Probably some kind of mixed drink.

“Oh, OK,” JC said, and he turned to go. Part of him was relieved that he hadn’t had to try to talk to her. But that relief was short lived because she wrapped a hand around his wrist.

“Where you going, cutie?” she asked with a smile. “Pull up a seat and let’s get to know each other.”

“What’s your name?” JC asked.

She opened her mouth to answer and JC’s mind wandered. His shoulder was starting to twinge and he was about ready to leave. That probably wouldn’t happen for a while though because Joey and Chris were clearly having a good time. Not that JC really minded since he was banking on being out late to help him sleep.

“So you don’t have to worry about any telekinesis,” she said, laughing slightly. JC blinked before he forced a chuckle, knowing that he probably should be laughing, but not quite sure at what. “And what about you?”

It took JC a second for him to realize that she was asking him what his name was. “JC,” he said.

“Well, JC,” she leaned closer to him and put her hand on top of his, “I’m glad you came over to talk to me.”

“Yeah, me too,” JC said, forcing a smile. It all felt wrong, but he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. “So, uh…you come here often?”

She laughed, and JC felt his cheeks redden slightly. Had he really just tossed her a pickup line? He’d just been searching for something to say, and that’d been the first thing that’d popped into his head. It wasn’t like he was trying to use corny pickup lines.

“You’re cute,” she told him. “Yes, I’m here every weekend with my friends.”

“Where are they at?” JC asked.

She shrugged. “Around.” Just then a new song started pounding through the speakers and she sat up straighter. “You wanna dance?”

JC hesitated. He didn’t want to, but he didn’t want to come off as rude. And one dance wouldn’t kill him, so he said, “Sure.”

She wrapped her hand around his and led him towards the dance floor. They managed to find a small space for the two of them among the tightly packed crowd. Without saying a word, she grabbed his hands and placed them on her hips before throwing her arms around his neck.

The pulse of the beat flowed into him, and their bodies moved in rhythm with each other and the music. JC tried to keep some distance between them, but every time he pulled away slightly, she’d just press against him tighter. It was uncomfortable, but he could tolerate it for this one song.

What he couldn’t stand was when her hands moved from his neck and started to roam down his chest. Gently, he tried once again to pull away, but she continued to feel his body. It was when she started to grope his crotch that JC’s mind flashbacked to what’d happened yesterday, making him sick to his stomach.

JC tried to step back, out of her reach, but he backed into someone. Immediately, his breathing sped up as the feeling of being trapped consumed him. It was like what’d happened with Lou all over again, and he couldn’t handle it.

An overwhelming need to get her off him came over JC. He pushed her away, ignoring her glare and protest as he moved swiftly off the dance floor. Bile started to rise in his throat and JC picked up his pace. The men’s room was a few feet in front of him now, and he made it there in record time.

As soon as he crossed the threshold, he went into a stall and dropped to his knees, not bothering to close the door. Flashes of Lou assaulting him raced through his mind, causing his body to retch painfully. It lasted for a couple of minutes before JC sat back on his heels, shaking and trying to catch his breath to calm his churning stomach.

Nearly a minute passed before JC was able to rise to his feet on unsteady legs. He walked out of the stall and realized that he lucked out. No one was in the bathroom but him. So he took his time and made his way to the sink.

JC turned on the faucet and cupped some water in his hands before splashing his face with it. He looked into the dirt covered mirror and frowned at his pale complexion. Maybe some air would do him good. Tiredly, he wiped his face with a paper towel before wandering out of the bathroom and towards the back door.

“So what’s the plan again?”

Justin sighed and glanced over at Lance. They were crouched in the shadows so they were hidden from view, but could still keep an eye on the door. Nearly ten minutes had passed and so far nothing had happened.

“We wait for someone to come out and catch the door before it can close,” Justin said.

“Well, how do we know someone’s even going to come out?” Lance asked.

“Why else would they have a door here?” Justin countered.

It was Lance’s turn to sigh. Justin could really be stubborn when he set his mind on something. Clearly, he wouldn’t be persuaded that this wasn’t a good idea very easily.

“It’s probably just an emergency exit,” Lance said. It made sense because why else would there be no handles on the outside? When he’d first seen that, he thought for sure that Justin would give up the idea. He should’ve known better.

“Well, whoever comes out here’s probably not smart enough to realize that,” Justin replied.

“Can’t we just go back?” Lance asked after a moment. “We can probably make the next showing.”

“No,” Justin said, firmly.

Lance frowned. It seemed like there was more to this that Justin wasn’t telling him. “Why’s it so important to you that we get in?”

“Because I’m tired of them going out without me. Without us,” Justin said.

“We’re not exactly old enough to go out with them,” Lance pointed out.

“Why are you defending them?” Justin asked, his voice rising slightly. “They’re excluding you too.”

“I know, but it’s not like they have any control over it,” Lance said.

“They could stay home. Or they could do something with us. But do they? No. They desert me for some stupid club and girls they’ll probably never see again, and they expect me to just be OK with it. It’s not fair,” Justin ranted.

“You’re right.” Lance wasn’t too surprised at what Justin was saying because he’d quickly realized that the other guys talking about going clubbing really bothered him. He just never knew how much until now. And Lance sympathized with him because even though he was two years older, he was in the same boat. “But isn’t there a better way to let them know that?”

“If they see me in there, then maybe they’ll stop treating me like a kid,” Justin said.

“Or maybe they’ll treat you like a kid even more,” Lance countered.

Justin’s eyebrows furrowed. “What are you talking about? Getting into the club shows that I was smart enough to sneak in.”

“What it shows is that it bothers you,” Lance said.

“Well, of course it bothers me!” Justin exclaimed. “They go out and leave me at home with my mom. Now don’t get me wrong, I love my mom, but I’m the only one whose mom’s here. And that’s just one more thing Chris uses to tease me.”

“Have you told him how you feel? Maybe he’d stop if he knew.”

Justin shrugged. “We talked, but obviously he didn’t listen to a word I said. He still goes clubbing every chance he gets and makes me feel like a kid.”

“He probably just does it because he knows that he’ll get a rise out of you,” Lance said. “And that’s exactly what he’ll do if he sees you in that club.”

“Well, it’s not just that.”

“What else?” Lance asked, wondering how deep Justin’s ill feelings towards the others going clubbing really ran.

“JC’s always going out with Joey and Chris,” Justin said.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing,” Justin said. “But he used to spend more time with me. Now he goes out every time they do.”

Lance frowned, feeling like he should say something. Nothing was coming to mind though because he had to tread lightly. Justin obviously felt comfortable enough to tell him how he was feeling that Lance didn’t want to screw that up by saying something that would upset him even more.

“It’s not that he can’t go out and have fun, but that used to be something that we did together. I feel like Joey and Chris are taking my place, and I’m being phased out. I’m losing my best friend, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it,” Justin ranted.

“What are you talking about? I’ve seen how close you guys are. JC’ll never stop being your friend,” Lance said.

“Yeah, friend,” Justin replied, the word leaving his lips like it disgusted him. “That’s all he is right now. He’s supposed to be my best friend, but he’s not acting like it.”

Some people might think that Justin was being immature and possessive by being so upset about his best friend hanging out with other people, but Lance understood why he was so upset. He would be too if he had the relationship Justin had with JC. A best friend was something that you cherished and never wanted to let go of, so it wasn’t hard to understand where Justin was coming from.

“Why haven’t you told JC this? I’m sure he wouldn’t go out as much if he knew that it bothered you,” Lance said.

“I want him to hang out with me because he wants to. I don’t want him to do it just because he feels guilty or is doing it out of pity.” There was a pause before Justin said quietly, “I just want my best friend back.”

Lance looked over at Justin and saw the pinched expression on his face. Like he was trying not to cry. Something needed to be said, but Lance wasn’t sure what. He couldn’t believe that JC was purposely avoiding Justin by going clubbing with Joey and Chris, but he didn’t know what to make of it either. Because while he didn’t really know JC that well, Justin seemed to think that JC’s behavior of late was out of character, so who was Lance to say that Justin was wrong?

But before Lance could say anything, the door started to open. He half expected Justin to prepare to bolt for the door, but all thoughts of sneaking in died when they saw who walked out. It was JC.

Lance spared a glance at Justin, wondering what they were going to do now that they were essentially caught. Justin didn’t meet his eyes as he rose from his crouched position and quickly wiped at his eyes before stepping out of the shadows. Following his lead, Lance stood up too.

The door closed behind JC with a click as he stepped out into the cool night air. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and released it slowly. He ran a hand through his hair before it rested on the back of his neck.

“Hey,” Justin said, moving closer.

JC jumped and quickly turned to see them. “Geez, Justin,” JC let out in a breath, his features relaxing. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

“Sorry,” Justin apologized.

Lance understood why JC had startled. It was unnerving having someone sneak up on you, especially when you were in a dimly lit area behind a club. He still looked a little unsettled, but his focus was on them, obviously trying to push that feeling away.

“What are you guys doing here?” JC asked.

“We were trying to sneak in.” When JC sighed heavily, Justin added, “I know it was a bad idea.”

“Then why, Justin?”

“I just wanted to see if I could do it,” Justin said, shrugging slightly and lacking the boastfulness that would’ve accompanied it. Lance figured that what Justin had confided to him must’ve brought him down and made him realize they shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

When Justin noticed the weary look on JC’s face, he added, “Yeah, it was stupid. I don’t even know what we would done if we got in.”

JC didn’t say anything, but let out another sigh. He averted his eyes and stared at the brick wall opposite of them. And Justin took advantage of the silence to ask a question of his own.

“Why are you out here?”

JC brought his eyes up to meet Justin’s and said, “I just needed air. It’s stuffy in there.”

“Well, you know you’re locked out, right?” Justin asked, gesturing to the door behind JC.

“Great,” JC muttered, turning and confirming what Justin had said. He returned his attention to them. “Does your mom even know you’re gone?”

“Yeah. She dropped us off at the movies,” Justin said.

“Then you guys should probably head back,” JC replied.

There was no argument as they led JC over to the fence that separated the back of the club from the alley. Obviously he needed to go over with them so he could get back into the club. But it was clear that JC disapproved of what they’d done to sneak in.

“You climbed a fence?” JC asked, exasperation evident in his voice.

“It’s not like it was an electric fence,” Justin mumbled, grabbing onto the open diamond and starting to climb.

JC hesitated briefly before he followed Justin, grimacing slightly as he did so. He was probably agitating his shoulder with all that movement. Lance felt kind of bad about it, but JC would’ve had to climb the fence anyway since he’d gone outside where there was no way to get back in.

It only took them a few minutes to climb over and walk out of the alley. They paused on the corner of the street, just near the club’s entrance. JC glanced across the street, and Justin’s eyes followed his gaze.

“Do you want to come with us?” Justin asked. He said it casually enough, but Lance could tell that Justin was probably hoping that JC would say yes. It was like he trying to be grown up about it, but all he really wanted was to hang out with his best friend.

“I should get back in there,” JC said. Though, it didn’t sound like he really wanted to. But he added, “We’ll probably be home soon. Now get outta here before you get in trouble.”

Justin offered JC a small smile and pressed the button for the crosswalk. The light changed and the two of them crossed the street. It only took five minutes to make it back to the movie theater. By that time, they’d missed half the movie, but decided to buy a ticket anyway.

They stopped at the concession stand, loading up on soda and popcorn before entering the dark theater. Since it was so dark, they sat towards the back and tried to get into the movie. But they found they’d missed too much of the plot, so they started off quietly pointing out stupid things that the characters did.

Eventually, it escalated to them actually laughing at the ridiculousness of it. At one point they were laughing so loud that a middle-aged woman sitting in front of them actually turned around to shush them, which just made them laugh harder. Lance was happy to see Justin enjoying himself, especially since his mood had darkened back behind the club. But something good came out of it. He felt closer to Justin now than he ever had.