***

While walking into the hotel room that he shared with Justin, JC couldn't help but roll his eyes as he caught the younger male absentmindedly staring at his reflection in their hotel room's glass mirror. God, this boy takes forever to get ready.

With that thought in mind, JC made a move to tell the said man that particular fact. But at the last second, he changed his mind; deciding to go with a different approach.

"You know, I'd hurry it up if I was you. The guys are in Lance's room waiting for us."

Without bothering to outwardly reply to the comment, Justin silently nodded his head in understanding before hurrying his motions of getting ready; causing JC to stare at him in confusion--having expected some sort of smart aleck remark to come from his friend's mouth instead of just a nod of the head. Maybe he's not feeling well.

With that in mind, JC wordlessly took a seat on his unmade bed and then after he realized something, he opened his mouth once again. "So, where's Brit? I haven't seen her since she got here."

Without bothering to meet his friend's gaze, Justin quickly retorted: "That's because she left over an hour ago." Causing JC to furrow both eyebrows in confusion before asking if the blonde was meeting them there.

There being at the Staple Center, where the 44th annual Grammy's would be held that night.

After throwing the black silk tie he was about to put on, onto the floor, Justin busied himself with the cuffs of his shirt while replying: "No--yes--I don't know...we got in a fight and I told her that I couldn't do it anymore and, that for her sake, she should just leave."

Damn. Having somewhat expected that answer caused JC to shake his head slightly before wordlessly throwing the younger male, in front of him, a look of empathy. I should've known.

It had been almost two years since Britney had came up with the idea of being Justin's beard. And now with the rumors floating around the industry that the two were planning to get married sometime soon, everyone in their close circle of friends and family saw this one coming from a mile away. J just couldn't hack it anymore.

"So, how did Britney take it?"

After giving up on his clothes and taking a seat on the bed beside his friend, Justin sighed slightly before saying: "The same way she takes everything I tell her...she put my feelings before her own and asked if her leaving was what I really wanted. Then after I told her yes and that it was for the best, she told me to call her if I ever changed my mind and then walked out the door; ending part two of Justin and Britney: The once true lovers."

While slightly frowning at the tone in Justin's voice, JC wrapped his arm around his friend; hoping to console the younger male the best he could.

But unfortunately before he could even open his mouth to cheer the man up, the door to their room opened once again and Joey followed by a blushing Lance came running into the room; not noticing the slight bonding moment which was going on between the two other men.

"Figured I'd find you two slow pokes in here." Joey said, with a full on amused grin on his face. "I've got good news to tell you. Starting with the fact that you'll never guess who Poo-foo made plans with after the Grammy's tonight."

Not really caring, but figuring that it'd be really messed up if he didn't show the least bit of concern, Justin replied nonchalantly: "Marshall Mathers?" Causing the three men in front of him to send out mixed reactions. Ones ranging from "In your dreams" to "Not this week..unfortuantly."

That last one being from JC.

"So then, whose the lucky guy, Lance?"

After rolling his eyes--more at Joey's motioning elbow than at Justin's prodding question--Lance answered back with one word. "Howie."

"Hot damn!"

Not bothering to hide it, Justin smiled slightly as JC congratulated the younger male; all of them knowing how huge of a crush the inexperienced man had on the Backstreet boy member.

"Score one for Lance...so, tell us how did you work your magic? Bat a couple of eyelashes..pucker a little lip?"

"Blow a little-"

After cutting Joey off by elbowing the older man in the stomach, Lance retorted: "None of the above.....actually, we just sort of ran into one another earlier after the Grammy rehearsals and he was telling me that even though a couple of them were in town tonight he didn't think any of them would be attending the festivities."

Why not? Justin secretly wanted to ask, but it really wasn't necessary; seeing as how they all knew why the Backstreet Boys wouldn't be attending. Things just haven't been the same for them since AJ got out of rehab.

"So, then what's the other-half of your good news? You said starting with Lance having a date tonight."

Having recovered quickly from the sharp elbow that Lance had thrown him, Joey smiled once again in JC's direction before saying: "Almost forgot..after you left to come get J, Johnny stopped by to tell us we were invited to P.Diddy's party tonight and he promised me that everyone from Christina to the Isley Brothers are going to be there; which means I'll get another chance to impress Miss. Alicia Keys with my award winning smile."

And the paparazzi will get more then once chance to ask me their: So, are the rumors about you and Britney Spears getting married true? B.S.

Sensing a slight change in his friend's mood, JC waited until Joey looked to be trying to persuade Lance into bringing Howie to the party that night, before quietly whispering to Justin: "If you're worried about the reporters, I'll tell Chris what's going on and have him make a scene anytime someone tries to bring up Britney's name in front of you."

Knowing that Chris would do just that if he or JC asked him to, caused Justin to smirk slightly before saying: "Thanks..but I think I can handle it."

Or atleast, he hoped he could.

In Justin's opinion the entire awards ceremony was the same as it was the year before.

They didn't win any awards so Joey and Chris spent the entire evening--sans the times when they were performing and presenting--in their seats making fun of people's clothing and hair styles (like theirs were any better) while JC and Lance whispered around their curly haired friend about so and so who had brought so and so to the event with him (and they say men don't gossip).

In his opinion it was exactly like last years Grammy awards ceremony....except for two small differences.

One being during the pre-show red-carpet interviews, when thanks to JC's stubbornness and Chris's ability to make anyone so uncomfortable that they forgot what they had asked seconds ago, reporters decided to hurry up and let the guys of Nsync through the doors instead of holding them up, wanting to talk about everybody's love life.

And the second difference being because of the fact that Britney wasn't there to cock-block, Justin had to deal with Nick Carter's ex-girlfriend, Willa Ford suggestively licking her lips at him every time his gaze accidentally landed on hers.

That mere fact alone was probably the reason why instead of going to the post-Grammy party with the other guys--sans Lance--Justin decided to go to a bar that was more or less up the street from the hotel that they were staying in; figuring he'd rather lay low by himself for the night than have to put up with another round of the blonde's little game of seduction. Even though we both know theirs no way she'd ever be getting any from me.

With that thought in mind, Justin quickly drained the coke and whiskey that he had been nursing ever since he stepped into The Abbey fifteen minutes ago. And after a second of thinking about it, he opened his mouth to ask the bartender in front of him for a shot of coke and rum--but unfortunately before he could even get the words past his tongue, a low voice said from behind him: "I guess I'm not the only one who spends his nights spying on fellow group-members and their dates."

Even though he immediately recognized that voice, Justin quickly turned his head to make sure the statement had been directed towards him before saying in a slightly confused tone: "What are you talking about?"

Without bothering to answer the question outloud, the older male smirked slightly in response before tilting his head slightly to the left causing Justin to curiously follow the movement and--a second later--widen his eyes slightly in surprise when his gaze landed on a table on the other side of the room occupied by one Lance Bass and one Howie Dorough.

"Shit.." Justin mumbled harshly to himself; knowing that if he was spotted or had been spotted by the two other men, he could possibly ruin the night for Lance. "I didn't know they'd be here...if I had, I would've gone somewhere else."

While absentmindedly staring down at the golden curls on the younger man's head, Alex realized from Justin's tone of voice that he was probably telling the truth. So, after casually taking a seat on the barstool next to the other man, he slowly replied: "Hey, you don't need to prove anything to me. I believe you....but just a little secret between the both of us: by the way their looking at one another, I don't think they'd even realize it if the pope was to walk in here buck ass naked and ask everyone for a free blow-job."

After slightly chuckling--for what felt like the first time in hours--Justin threw an appreciative grin in the other man's direction before turning back to the empty glass in his hand; wondering if he should now leave the slightly empty bar--giving Lance and Howie some much-needed privacy.

Unfortunately before he could even reach his decision, Alex spoke up again in mild curiosity: "So, I know what blondie over there is doing here and I know what I'm doing here. But if you're not here to spy on Lance and D, then what brings you to a place like this....? You and your beard finally get tired of lying and break up?"

Justin's first reaction to that question was to immediately glare at the other man and reply that he wasn't gay. But when remembering that the reason behind him and Britney breaking up was so neither one of them would have to lie anymore, Justin swiftly turned his eyes back towards his empty glass and softly replied: "Yeah....something like that."

Noticing the slight change in Justin's mood, Alex waited until he had taken a long sip out of the water bottle--that he had asked for when entering the place--before thinking it over for a second and replying: "I don't have anywhere to be for a couple of hours."

A statement which caused Justin to look at the older man in confusion before realization dawned on him.

He can't possibly expect me to just sit here and spill everything about me and Brit to him like he and I are two old friends from way back, can he?

Even though he couldn't see the other man's eyes through his dark framed glasses, Justin knew just by the older man's silence that the answer to his unasked question was: Yes.

Yes, he wanted Justin to confess everything to him. And yes, he was going to sit there staring at the younger male until he did so.

After sighing slightly at the thought, Justin turned his attention back to the empty glass in his hand and mentally told himself: What the hell! It'll get him off my back and if any of what I tell him happens to get out to anyone from his camp or the paparazzi then I'll already know who to blame and then who to beat up afterwards.

With that being his last thought, Justin quickly sighed once more before opening his mouth and letting everything out. Everything from--when he had first realized that he might not be as straight as everyone thought he was--to why he had decided to skip P. Diddy's party after the awards ceremony.

Interestingly enough though, it wasn't until after the words had left his mouth that Justin realized that he had just told the other man pretty much everything that only him and his close circle of friends and family knew..and some things that nobody but him would even understand.

That something else being: "You know..I hate to admit this--given the fact that me and the boys used to be pretty close to her--but you did the right thing tonight.....I mean, could you imagine if you had went to that party, got plastered after someone had said the wrong thing to you, and then woke up tomorrow morning with Willa Ford sleeping in your bed...? That's enough to make any man want to gorge out his eyes and cut his dick off."

What the..?

Even though Justin knew that wasn't funny and knew that the other man might of somewhat misinterpreted his point (if he even had one), he couldn't help but chuckle slightly while thinking to himself: Here I am, confessing that Britney and I have been lying to him and almost everyone else for the past two years about our relationship and my sexuality--and he's cracking jokes about his friend's ex-girlfriend...no wonder everyone says he's the crazy one in the group.

Unfortunately though, before Justin could even open his mouth to tell the man that said thought, the slight vibration coming from his pants pocket told him that one of the guys had made it back to the hotel that they were staying in and was now wondering where he had ran off to.

I'm betting it's JC.

Without bothering to check his caller ID, Justin waited until the phone call had switched over to his voicemail before checking the time on his watch and outwardly commenting that it was getting late and he probably should get a move on.

"All right.." Alex slowly replied, while watching the younger male get up from his seat on the barstool and then turn towards him; looking to be wanting to say something but not really knowing how to say it.

"Umm..thanks for--ya know--listening to me tonight..I'm sure you probably had other things that you could've been doing."

After slightly smiling at the comment and looking towards the other side of the room--continuing to make sure that neither Howie or Lance noticed them there--Justin softly replied: "It was nice seeing you again, AJ."

A comment which caused Alex to wait until Justin had turned around to leave the bar before quickly responding back with: "It was nice seeing you too, Justin....maybe we can talk again sometime.....ya know, once the embarrassment lets off."

Without bothering to turn back around, Justin laughed slightly to himself before continuing to make his way outside of the smokey joint; only allowing four more words to travel outside of his mouth and towards Alex's ears before he exited the bar completely.

"Maybe..you never know."

~*~

After deciding that spying on Howie and Lance wasn't really worth it, Alex and his bodyguard Q spent the next two and a half hours driving around LA; trying to take in what the small town of California had to offer them. But unfortunately after being stopped by three sets of fans--each set wanting about a dozen autographs signed for their distant relatives--Alex gave up on finding anything interesting to do and decided just to call it a night around three a.m.

I wonder if D's made it back to the hotel yet.

As if already knowing that he had, Alex wasn't really that surprised when he opened the door to the hotel room that he was sharing with Howie and found the older male curled up on his bed; watching--for the millionth and one time--Willy wonka and the chocolate factory.

"Aren't you tired of this movie yet?" Alex asked as he made his way further into the room; closing the door behind him. "I think I alone must have watched it atleast thirteen times with you."

Without bothering to respond to the question, Howie simply replied: Actually it was fourteen. You forgot you watched it with me twice in Germany when I was sick in bed before turning off the TV screen in front of them and hitting the younger male with a questioning eyebrow. "So, what have you been up to? I came back a couple of hours ago dreading the millions of questions I just knew you'd want to ask me about my date with Lance, only to find out that you weren't even here. What's up with that?"

After smirking slightly, Alex took a seat on the bed next to Howie and responded back with: "Q and I decided we were getting a nasty case of cabin-fever and went looking for some nonalcoholic fun..unfortuantly though we couldn't find any."

"Sorry." Howie commented softly; afterwards putting a comforting hand on the younger man's shoulder as if to say: Maybe next time.

"It's okay." Alex responded back, after a second; afterwards changing the subject as he absentmindedly noticed that Howie's comforting hand on his shoulder was gradually turning into Howie's comforting hand on his back.

Which only lead to one thing when you were dealing with Howie Dorough.

"So, now that we're both here...how about you tell me how your date was with--as Nick calls him--Mr-oh, so fine-Lance Bass...he didn't try and make a move on you did he?"

Even though Howie looked to be on a mission--with his hand running down Alex's back--the curly haired man couldn't help but chuckle slightly while saying: "Although, I think a part of him wanted to, he didn't try and throw himself on me...he was really nice the entire night. Actually, rather different."

While a part of him was telling him not to, Alex couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in questioning as he asked: "How was he different?" And after sighing slightly while beginning to trace little circles on the small of Alex's back, Howie replied: "He just was...I mean, he held the door open for me at the bar we went to and paid for anything and everything that I ordered."

"But..?" Alex asked reluctantly, when it looked like the other man wasn't going to continue.

"But..." Howie repeated, after a second of silence hung in the air. "He wasn't you."

Shit. was the only word that came to Alex's mind before he stood up; wanting to put some distance in between him and the other brunette. "Howie, we--"

"I know..you said we shouldn't do this anymore and I agreed that we really shouldn't." Howie interrupted, while standing up in front of the younger man. "But I need it...I need you. You just don't understand how hard it is for me to wake up every morning knowing that I will never be able to touch you or kiss you the way that I want to...I can't stand it. I practically yearn for you and that's not like me at all."

Not knowing what to say to that, Alex moved his line of vision from Howie towards the floor. But then almost a second later he found himself staring into the identical brown eyes of his best friends as Howie slowly pulled his face towards him.

"I'm not asking for your heart, Aje. I'm just asking for one more--not so lonely--night in your arms."

As if being pulled in by a magnet, Alex let Howie draw him into a soft yet meaningless kiss; one which only lasted for a few brief seconds until Alex pulled away with a sigh and told Howie just what the older man wanted to hear.

"Just for one more night."

***