Rain pattered on the windows of the house. Lance found himself lying awake once more. He had woken up by the thunder roaring in the distance, he felt scared. He never wanted to admit it but he was afraid of thunderstorms. He shivered as a cold breeze came in through the open window. He felt JC’s hold on him tightened as he shivered. The booming sound of thunder made him jump a bit. He looked at JC’s face and saw how his eyes fluttered open. “Lance, what’s wrong?” He frowned, seeing him shivering with both cold and a little bit of fear. A gust of wind came through the window and they heard a booming sound, which made them jump, followed by the only light source in the room, which happened to be Lance’s nightlight, to turn off.
Lance had to admit that he didn’t like the dark, in fact, he could say that he is afraid of it. When the lights went out he shut his eyes and held tightly onto JC. “Shhh, it’s just a storm.” he soothed. JC looked down at Lance’s face and saw that Lance had his eyes shut tightly. “What’s wrong?” JC asked. “The light.” Lance said quietly, his eyes never opening. “Ohhh,” JC said in realization, he had forgotten about Lance’s fear of the dark, “Don’t worry, we can find some candles to light up. You have nothing to fear, I’m here with you.” JC looked down at Lance and saw how he opened his eyes slowly, adjusting to the darkness. “Do you want to go find some candles with me?” JC asked. Lance nodded softly. They got up, the thunder could still be heard, it kept getting louder and louder. JC and Lance stepped out into the hall, it was pitch black. JC felt around for the walls to be able to guide himself to the kitchen where they had the candles in a drawer. He stopped and turned around, he grabbed Lance’s hand with his casted arm to guide him with him, and also to make sure they stayed together. He kept walking slowly until he bumped into something, or more likely, someone. The other person screamed, which made JC and Lance scream too. “JC? You scared the crap out of me.” the person asked, obviously startled. “Chris?” JC asked when he recognized the voice. “What are you doing here, man?” Chris asked. “May I ask the same?” JC returned the question. “I woke up because of the storm and noticed that the lights went out, you know I’m a light sleeper. Justin on the other hand, he wouldn’t wake up if the house was falling down.” Chris replied, “So, what about you?” “Lance and I woke up and came over here looking for candles to light up the room.” JC said in an obvious tone. “I think we will go do that now.” He said, noticing Lance’s hand tighten his grip around him, obviously because it was dark and he didn’t want to be there too long. “Yeah, you guys do that. By the way, hi Lance.” Chris said as he started making his way back to his room. “Hi, Chris.” Lance said quietly. “Oh and could you guys bring me a candle? I mean, you’re going to get them anyways.” Chris asked, turning around. “Sure.” JC said as he and Lance kept walking slowly to the kitchen. When they arrived at the kitchen JC turned around to face Lance, “I’m gonna go get the candles, I’ll be gone for just a moment, okay? Don’t move.” “Okay.” Lance said quietly, he trusted him. JC walked over to the drawer where they had the candles, he got three out and got the lighter. The wind howled as it came through the window, Lance jumped a bit at this. “JC?” he asked. He then felt a hand on his shoulder which made him jump. “Lance, it’s just me.” JC said as he hugged him. “Come on, let’s go back.” JC took Lance’s hand in his and led him back towards their room. They gave Chris the candle and then went into their room. JC lit up the two candles they had and set them up on the nightstand. He looked at his watch, it was 3:45 a.m. “I think we should sleep, it’s still 3 a.m. and we have that gig that Lou got for us, tomorrow afternoon.” JC said as he sat down next to Lance on his bed. “Thank you for getting candles for me.” Lance hugged JC. He hugged back, he felt Lance’s warmth compared to the coldness of the wind. “Sing to me once more, Josh. Please.” Lance looked up at him with puppy dog eyes. JC nodded, he cleared his throat and started singing softly. He ran his hands through Lance’s blond hair as he did this, seeing how his green eyes started closing...
Close your eyes
Have no fear
The monster's gone
He's on the run and I am here
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful boy
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful boy
Before you go to sleep
Say a little prayer
Every day in every way, it's getting better and better
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful boy
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful boy
Before you cross the street
Take my hand
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful boy
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful boy
Before you go to sleep
Say a little prayer
Every day in every way, it's getting better and better
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful boy
Darling, darling, darling
Darling Lance
When he finished the song he noticed how Lance’s breathing had evened out. He laid down next to him, planted a kiss on his forehead, and fell asleep, the storm outside forgotten.
******** [^v^]/ ********
The next morning they still didn’t have electricity, though it seemed like the storm had passed. Lance opened his eyes and his heart fluttered, he saw JC sleeping soundly with his arms around him, his hair was puffy because of the humidity in the air, his lips were slightly parted. Lance had to admit that he felt truly lucky to be with him. He could just watch him sleep for hours, not in a creepy way of course. JC’s eyes opened slowly as he woke up, he looked at Lance and smiled. “Good morning.” He said. “Mornin’ .” Lance replied. After a while, they got up and got ready for their day, they had to do the final rehearsal before the show. They all had their breakfast and got ready, then they went to the venue to rehearse in that space. Before the show they were all nervous, they did their hacky sack and wished each other luck before they went on stage. “We’re gonna do great.” Joey reassured them as they all hugged. “Hey and maybe some other person will see our performance and will want to be our manager, so we can get rid of that greedy pig.” Justin said the last part quietly as he pointed towards Lou Pearlman. The rest of the guys giggled a bit, but deep down they knew that’s what they wanted.
When they were performing on stage, Lance could see that JC was glancing at him as he sang, which made him feel butterflies in his stomach. They went through all the choreography without mistakes throughout the whole performance. They really thought that this was their shot at being noticed by someone new so that they could get rid of Lou. Once they were done, they went off stage and didn’t see Lou around to congratulate them for their great work, instead, he was on the phone, away from everyone. The guys hugged each other and congratulated themselves when a guy approached them. They conversed for a bit when finally he said, “Here’s my card, call me after you’ve thought about my offer.” The guy handed Chris his card, which contained the name of his company and a phone number, and then left. “Now all we have to do is get rid of ‘greedy pig’ and call that guy.” Joey smiled. They all smiled and congratulated each other, they knew things could only get better from now. After a while, they found Lou. They would tell him that they didn’t want to be with him anymore. Lou obviously threw a fit and said things like, “You will never make it.” and “You’ve made a mistake.” Though, the guys all knew that he was just mad because he lost the group and he wouldn’t be able to take their money anymore. On their way back home they picked up some victory dinner, pizza. After dinner they went outside to play some basketball, this time all of them were happy.
When the game was over, JC walked over to the bench swing to watch the sun set. Soon after, Lance walked over and sat next to him. JC looked over at him and smiled, then he turned his gaze back to the sunset. “You sounded really good today, at the performance.” Lance said, a shy smile on his face. “Thank you, you did too.” JC smiled back. “I was actually singing for you.” JC admitted, blushing a bit. Lance’s face turned a crimson color as he smiled. They turned back towards the sunset, they didn’t say a word.
“Lance?” JC looked over at him, blue eyes locking with green ones. “Yes?” “I- uh, You- ” JC stumbled over his words, he was nervous about what he was going to say, “I was wondering if, maybe, you would like to um be my boyfriend?” He blushed as he asked the question. “Yes, yes, yes!” Lance smiled as he threw his arms around his new boyfriend. JC returned the hug. “I could kiss you right now!” Lance blurted out. The words escaped his mouth, he blushed a deep shade of red. “Will you?” JC asked with a smirk. Lance didn’t say anything, he didn’t reply, he just leaned in, closing the space between them. The kiss was short and sweet, but it was filled with love.
******** [^v^]/ ********
Joey, Justin, and Chris sat inside waiting for Lance and JC. Chris wanted everyone to be present when they called the guy from the gig. “What’s taking them so long?” Chris asked impatiently as he paced around the room, Justin and Joey sat on the couch watching a movie that was on the TV. Chris walked over to the window and what he saw shocked him, he saw JC and Lance sitting on the bench swing… kissing? He had to blink a few times, he couldn’t believe his eyes. He wasn’t imagining things, that was really happening. “Be right back.” Chris said as he walked outside. Joey and Justin looked at each other, wondering what Chris was doing this time, they just dismissed it and shrugged. “Guys! We’re gonna call that guy without you if you don’t come inside now! If you miss it, it’s not my fault.” Chris shouted at them from far away, he didn’t want to walk all the way over there, he was old and tired. After that, he went back inside. “I’ll give them three minutes to get back in here, if they don't make it I’m calling the guy without them.” Chris muttered to himself.
“We should go inside, we don’t want to miss this.” JC said. Lance nodded. They stood up, before they could start walking away though, Lance grabbed JC’s wrist. “Wait.” He said, making him turn around and face him. “When are we gonna tell them?” Lance asked nervously. “We can tell them whenever you feel comfortable.” JC replied softly. “You’re not alone in this.” He smiled at Lance. “Thank you.” Lance hugged JC one more time before they headed back inside.
“Ok, I hope he gives us good news. By that, I mean that I hope we can sign with him.” Justin said. “I’m sure it’s all gonna turn out fine.” Joey reassured. “Well, no better time to find out than now.” Chris said as he called the guy. They ended up signing with his company. They were all filled with joy. They all had some ice cream to celebrate, and watched a movie. After a few hours of watching movies and eating junk food, they all went to bed.
“Today was probably the best day of my life so far.” Lance smiled as he sat down on his bed. “Me too.” JC sat down next to him. “And it’s gonna get even better.” “What do you mean?” Lance asked, looking over at his boyfriend. JC stood up and walked out of the room, Lance heard talking outside. “Why now?” Chris whined. “It’s as good a time as ever.” JC said, “Besides, you’re the one who plays guitar and my hand is still in a cast.” “Fiiiiineee” Chris sighed. Lance looked over to the door and saw JC come back in the room, Chris behind him, holding a guitar. JC sat next to Lance and Chris sat on JC’s bed. “What’s going on here?” Lance asked with a smile. “You just sit back and listen.” JC said, taking Lance’s hand in his. He nodded towards Chris and he started playing.
Saying I love you
Is not the words I want to hear from you
It's not that I want you
Not to say, but if you only knew
How easy it would be to show me how you feel
More than words is all you have to do to make it real
Then you wouldn't have to say that you love me
'Cause I'd already know
What would you do if my heart was torn in two
More than words to show you feel
That your love for me is real
What would you say if I took those words away
Then you couldn't make things new
Just by saying I love you
Now I've tried to talk to you and make you understand
All you have to do is close your eyes
And just reach out your hands and touch me
Hold me close don't ever let me go
More than words is all I ever needed you to show
Then you wouldn't have to say that you love me
'Cause I'd already know
What would you do if my heart was torn in two
More than words to show you feel
That your love for me is real
What would you say if I took those words away
Then you couldn't make things new
Just by saying I love you
The song ended and Lance was speechless. ‘When did they even practice for this?’ Lance thought. All he could do at that moment was give Josh a hug. “What did I do to deserve you?” He said, his voice muffled against JC’s shoulder. “I ask the same.” He said as he returned the hug. They pulled apart and Lance stood up to give Chris a hug, “Thank you.” “JC I think I’m gonna steal your man.” Chris joked as he hugged Lance, back. “You better not, Tricky.” JC warned with a small laugh. “I think I’m gonna go to bed now. You know the old man needs his beauty rest.” Chris said, flipping his hair as he walked out the door. “I don't know what to say.” Lance admitted. “About Chris? Man, I don't think anyone knows.” JC giggled. “No! Not about Chris. About the song. Though I do agree, I don't think anyone knows what to say about Chris, just that he is crazy.” “You don’t need words. I thought you heard the lyrics of the song.” JC glared playfully at Lance. “C'mere, it’s late and I’m tired.” JC opened his arms, Lance walked over to him. They laid down and after a moment of silence Lance said, “Your hair is fluffy. It’s cute.” He patted his hair. “Thank you. Have I told you that your eyes are the prettiest I’ve ever seen?” Lance blushed at JC’s comment. “Alright, I’m officially sleepy.” JC said after a while. “Goodnight Lance.” He kissed his forehead. “Goodnight Josh. I love you.” Lance said softly as he snuggled into his boyfriend's embrace. “Sweet dreams.”
