“Yes. Lance didn’t suspect a thing. I think he was a little too deep in thought to notice what I was really saying. He still gave me advice and everything. He just didn’t seem to realize what I was saying because normally he would’ve made a wise crack about how there’s a girl that doesn’t like me. But he didn’t say one.” Justin explained through some reasoning.

JC had sent Justin outside to ask him that so they could see if Lance was like his normal self. Usually they could determine that by what kind of advice he gave. If he gave less advice than he normally did then the guys knew something was up. “What kind of advice did he give you?” JC questioned.

“He told me to help her carry her books or help her with her homework. You know, to do something that will show her that I care.” Justin replied.

“That pretty much sounds like what he would say.” Joey said and everyone agreed.

“He totally jumped when I was out there with him. He didn’t even know I was there until I touched him and he jumped. He was really deep in thought.” Justin added trying to figure out what was causing Lance to be this jumpy.

“Really? That’s not like him. He’s usually very relaxed. Is he still out there deep in thought?” Chris commented. Joey went over to the sliding glass door and looked out.

“Yep. He’s still really thinking.” Joey answered.

“We should try to get his mind off whatever he’s thinking for now.” JC said. They all nodded.

“How about we go swimming?” Chris asked and there were no objections from anyone. So they all headed upstairs to change.

Lance saw the guys come out and head toward the pool area. He had been deep in thought about everything. Now Lance was trying to unwind. He was working himself up from all of his thinking about murderers, death, and weapons. He was starting to freak himself out. He looked up when he heard Joey call his name.

“Hey, Lance!”

“Yeah.” Lance replied.

“Come on in and swim with us.” Joey said.

“Yeah! The water feels so good.” Chris added.

“No thanks. I think I will just watch you guys.” Lance declined. Joey nodded and went over to Justin to tell him something. Lance watched with curious eyes.

“Here’s what you have to do.” Joey said as he whispered in Justin’s ear so Lance couldn’t hear them. Joey finished explaining what the plan was. Justin smiled and nodded. This drove Lance even more crazy because he could tell they were up to something.

“Does anyone have a watch?” Justin asked looking at all of the guys. All the guys shook their heads no.

“Hey Lance. Can you come over and time me?” Justin asked looking at Lance.

“Sure.” Lance agreed since he didn’t have anything else to do and figured that there was no harm in it. Lance rolled up his flannel pj’s as he stuck his legs in the pool. Lance got his watch ready.

“You have 30 seconds.” Lance stated as Justin began to prepare for going underwater.

“10 seconds left.” Lance started to count down and when he got to one, Justin went under and Joey came over unnoticed to Lance and pulled Lance into the water. While Lance was underwater all Justin could do was pray that Lance didn’t kill him. Lance surfaced.

“Why’d you do that Justin?” Lance said automatically thinking that it was Justin who pulled him under since he was right next to him.

“It wasn’t me. I swear! It was Joey!” Justin accused. Lance gave the look of death at Joey.

“Ah, come on Lance. You need to have some fun. Lighten up.” Joey replied. Lance couldn’t help to be mad anymore because Joey had a point.

“The water does feel good.” Lance admitted.

“See I told you.” Joey said. The rest of the day, the guys swam in the pool all day. Lance was actually grateful that he did decide to have fun because he needed a break from thinking. They all had gotten dressed and we’re sitting around watching the news. Lance had started off to the kitchen when the news reporter caught his attention.

“Today, a man murdered a 30 year old woman in her home early this morning. The police had him arrested when he escaped this afternoon. The police have advised everyone to watch their backs and don’t go anywhere alone at night. That is all the time we have today……” Lance didn’t hear anymore as he drifted away into his own little world. 

Justin noticed, walked over to him, and waved his hand in front of Lance's face. “Is he all right?” Justin asked looking at JC who remained calm while checking Lance over once he was sitting on the couch.

“No. He’s fine. He's just in shock.” JC explained as he began to lightly slap Lance on the cheek. After a few minutes, Lance opened his eyes and realized he was brought back to reality. Lance didn’t even have to ask what happened because he connected everything together and figured it out.

“Are you okay?” Joey asked as the guys made room for Lance to sit up properly.

“Yeah. I will be fine. I just need to….throw up.” Lance replied as he made a dash for the bathroom where he puked his guts out. He came out after cleaning himself off.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” JC asked Lance. Lance nodded.

“I just got a little dizzy.”

“Why don’t you go lay down upstairs for a while and I will be right up?” JC suggested. Lance nodded and headed upstairs. Once he was up the stairs, the guys started talking again.

“What was that all about?” Joey asked.

“I’m not sure but whatever it was must be some serious stuff. I mean, if it wasn’t serious he wouldn’t have spaced out like that.” Chris replied. JC nodded.

“We’re going to find out soon. We’ll make him tell us but for now let’s just let him feel a little better. I don’t think it was only dizziness that caused him to throw up. I think it was stress too. We’ll understand everything better once he tells us though.” JC explained. “I’m going to sit with him for a while. Why don’t you guys go get something to eat?”

“What about you?” Justin asked.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll make a sandwich or something.” JC replied as he headed upstairs.

“Alright, guys. Let’s get going.” Chris said as they all piled out of the door. Chris just hoped that JC could find out what was bothering Lance this time and that Lance was ok.

Lance had his eyes closed when JC reached his room. For a minute Jc thought he was sleeping until he said, “I’m sorry about that, JC.”

“It’s ok. You can’t help how your body reacts to certain stuff.” JC replied. Lance nodded his head.

“Where are the others?”

“They went out for dinner.” JC answered.

“I’m sorry that you’re missing out on it. You could’ve gone. I would’ve just slept anyway.” Lance replied feeling guilty that he ruined the guys’ day.

“Nah. Don’t worry about it. I’m sure they just went to McDonald’s or something. That’s all they really eat at.” JC assured. “Do you feel like talking about what happened?”

“Not right now. Maybe later.” Lance said.

“Sure. Whenever you’re ready.” JC replied.

“Didn’t get much done today.” JC stated and that made Lance smile at the great day that he had up until a few minutes ago.

“Yeah. I actually had a lot of fun. I’m kind of glad that I didn’t work today.” Lance said.

“You need to do that more often. You work so hard and that’s why you get sick all the time. You stress yourself out too much when you’re working but when you’re just relaxing with us, you’re fine.” JC replied.

Lance agreed. “Yeah, I know. I just hate it when I don’t get all the things done that I want to and then I end up stressing out because I stayed up all night to make a deadline. I always stress over stupid stuff like that but then I’m fine the next day.”

“It happens to the best of us.” JC commented. “I think you should get some sleep. Maybe you’ll feel well enough to eat when you wake up.”

“Maybe.” Lance closed his eyes but then opened them in a flash. “Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?” Lance paused for a minute then added, “That movie really got to me.”

“Of course I will.” JC agreed and Lance closed his eyes once again feeling better that JC would be in the same room as him. Lance slowly drifted off to sleep as JC sat there watching him.

“I can’t stand to see him like this.” JC said to himself. He had decided that he would figure out what was up with Lance soon before things got too crazy. JC knew the only way he would be able to help Lance was to help him over come whatever it was that he was so afraid of. Whatever it was that kept him looking over his shoulder even when they were just in the back yard or whatever was causing him those horrible nightmares. JC was about to leave again when he heard the bed sheets rustling.

Lance was flailing about in his bed. He was mumbling things that Jc could not make out in his sleep. He really began tossing and turning almost to the point where he fell off the bed. JC sat down on the bed next to him and started talking to him, trying to wake him up.

Lance was starting to become more audible. JC thought he said, “Please. Don’t hurt them. They didn’t do anything. I’ll do anything. Please. Just leave them alone.” JC was shocked at what he heard. He still had no idea what the dreams were about but just what Lance was saying and the fright in his voice was enough to tell JC that it was a bad dream.

“Come on, Lance. Wake up. I’m right here. Nothing is happening. You’re safe in your bed at my house.” JC kept saying comforting things to Lance when Lance opened his eyes. That look in his eyes was the same as last night and this made JC sad. JC wanted to fix Lance’s problem.

“Are you okay? You were having a bad dream.”

“Yeah. I’m fine. It was just really scary.” Lance replied. They sat in silence for a few minutes.

“Are you hungry?” JC asked knowing that he would need Lance to eat something because he hadn’t eaten all day. Lance nodded. “Okay. Let’s go downstairs and make you soup.” JC replied silently thanking god that Lance was hungry. Lance would need all of the energy he could get if he was going to tell the guys about his dreams. At least, this is what JC was hoping for.