It all started with an innocent game of truth or dare.
They were in the last days of the tour, and they were bored. They had cancelled two shows because of the weather -- not postponed them, but cancelled them altogether, which always made them feel guilty when they thought of all the fans that had been disappointed, even though it wasn't their fault. Plus, this tour just had seemed... jinxed, somehow. Joey got hurt, then he ended up in the hospital. Some girl jumped on stage in San Diego and rushed Justin. With so many pieces of equipment doing so many different things, it was inevitable that little things would go wrong, but the little things were starting to add up and get on everyone's nerves. They loved performing, and they loved being on the road together, but at this point, they just kinda wanted to go home.
They were hanging around in the hotel, aimlessly trying to entertain themselves when someone suggested truth or dare. Maybe it was Joey, maybe it was Chris, it didn't really matter. When they'd first gone on tour together, spending all those months in Europe, they had played a lot of stupid games like that, but as the years went on they tended to taper off. After all, when you spend almost every waking hour with four other people, you begin to feel like you know everything about them anyway.
They each had their own thing now -- Chris would be on the phone with Dani about Fuman stuff, Lance would be running business projections on his laptop, JC would be buried in song writing or just daydreaming in his own little world, Joey would be on the phone with Kelly about Bri, and Justin would be working on a song, or on the phone with Brit, or just bouncing around with his usual excess of energy trying to see what the other four were up to.
In fact, maybe it was Justin who suggested the game this time, because he was bored and wanted the others to amuse him. He was too old now to just plop himself down and look at them with big, big blue eyes and whine, "Play with me." Not that he didn't still try that on occasion, but it didn't have quite the same effect it had back when he was 16.
Playing truth or dare sounded like something to make the evening go by faster with no show that night and the rain outside making the hotel actually shake every now and then. They were too lethargic to go clubbing, and the weather sucked too much to want to leave the hotel anyway. They lived in Florida, it wasn't like they weren't used to tropical storms, but it was just a blah day all around, and this seemed like a way to perk it up.
They started out with mostly dares, silly stuff like having Lance imitate the way JC danced during Space Cowboy. JC's mouth had fallen open in shock. "I do not have an expression like that on my face," he'd insisted, but looking at the other four doubled over in laughter, he'd realized maybe he did look kinda goofy when he really got into his performance. When Lance stuffed a sock down the front of his pants to make his impersonation 'more realistic', JC had been mortified.
Joey dared Chris to go down to the lobby to get a newspaper, and when the first fan approached him to ask her for HER autograph. He said that the girl nearly passed out from shock, but he brought back a USA Today with, "Dear Chris, From your #1 fan, Love Sylvia" scrawled across it in black Sharpie.
"Of course, you want to know the first question my 'number one fan' asked me? 'Where's Justin?'" Chris said wryly. They all laughed, though Justin blushed a little. It bothered him when the others pointed out how much more attention he got than the rest of the group.
A few more rounds went by. By then they had gone through a decent amount of beer, and everyone was feeling pretty good. "Hey, JC," Chris asked after JC chose truth. "If you were a chick, which member of the group would you want to hook up with?"
JC blinked at Chris for a second. "Hook up? You mean... oh!" Chris nodded. JC looked around, his gaze resting on each person before moving on, and coming back to Chris. "Well, um, I don't know. I haven't really thought about it."
Chris smirked. "So think about it. We can wait."
JC wasn't sure why his cheeks were burning. Certainly he had been asked more embarrassing questions. "Um, well, I guess... Justin."
"Why me?" The question blurted out before Justin could stop it. For some reason he had expected JC to pick Lance, and was oddly pleased that he hadn't. But he wanted to know why JC had chosen him... and he was kind of curious as to why JC was blushing.
JC shrugged. "Hey, he's the pretty one. I figure a few million teenage girls can't be wrong, right?" Everyone laughed, and the slightly tense moment passed.
The next question went to Lance, as JC asked him if he ever lurked on fan websites to see what people were saying about them. Justin wasn't listening to the question or the answer, though, and a frown had settled on his face. He was still bothered by JC's answer.
Here was one of his best friends, someone who knew him better than almost anyone else in the world, and the only reason he could think of to be attracted to him was because he was the 'pretty one'? Because he was on the cover of a bunch of stupid teen magazines? What about his personality? His talent? Hell, he was a 20-year-old man, what about plain old sex appeal, instead of labeling him nothing more than a locker pinup?
I mean, it's not as if I want JC to be attracted to me, Justin thought to himself, but he doesn't have to be so shallow about it.
He continued to watch JC, brooding. I could have come up with plenty of things to say about him, he thought. How we both love music. How we both love to go to a club and just dance all night. How cute it is when he gets on that perfectionist kick of his, and just won't rest until he's gotten whatever it is he's working on just right. I'd never say that he's attractive just because he's... pretty.
JC, completely unaware of either Justin's annoyance or scrutiny, finished scribbling something on the back of a napkin and got up from his spot on the floor. "I'm gonna call it a night, guys, I've got this idea I want to work on."
If he noticed that Justin only grumbled a goodnight, he didn't comment on it.
"Justin. Yo, earth to Justin!" Chris waved a hand in front of Justin's face, breaking him out of his reverie.
"Huh?"
"Truth or dare, dude, " Chris repeated for the fourth time.
"Huh?" Justin said again, then realized it was his turn. "Oh. Um... truth, I guess."
Chris regarded him for a second. "What the hell are you pouting about?"
"Huh?"
"Yeah, we got that the first two times you said it. That's your question -- what crawled up your ass and died? You've been sitting here looking like you wanted to beat the crap out of someone for the past ten minutes."
There was no way in hell he could tell the other guys that he was hurt because of JC's reasons for wanting to kiss him. They would never let him live it down, and it would just become one more example of the famous Timberlake ego.
"You know, I think I'm gonna call it a night, too. This shitty weather is wearing me out. Later, guys."
They all just looked at each other after Justin left. "Maybe he went to get a good night kiss from JC," Joey suggested with a wink.
Justin went down the hall to his room, then stopped and went down to JC's door. He stood outside the closed door, trying to hear what was going on inside. He thought he could faintly hear JC playing the keyboard, and knew he hated to be interrupted when he was writing a song. He turned and went back to his room.
This time he got as far as putting the key card in the lock and opening the door before he changed his mind and went back to JC's room. Before he could think twice about it, he knocked on the door.
JC opened the door with that far off expression he tended to wear when he was working on his music, as if he was off in another plane of existence. "Oh, hey, Jus," he said absently, walking back into the room so Justin could follow him in. "What's up? Get tired of the game?"
"Yeah, something like that." He looked at JC, sprawled across the bed on his stomach, picking out notes on his keyboard. "Am I bothering you?"
"Only if you keep talking." He said it with a twinkle in his eyes, though, which took away the sting. JC always made time for his friends if they needed him, and Justin knew that. In fact, he now took a closer look at Justin's face and asked, "You okay? Something on your mind?"
Now that he was here in the room with JC he felt even more stupid for being annoyed. He laid down on his back next to JC, staring up at the ceiling. "Not really. Well, kind of. No."
"Well, as long as you're sure."
Justin heard the chuckle after the words, and stuck his lower lip out in a pout. "Don't laugh at me. I'm not a little kid anymore."
JC laughed again. "Well, with that expression on your face you look all of 12. But what brought that on? We all know you're not a kid anymore."
Justin didn't answer, and after a minute, JC went back to working on the song. He knew that if Justin was going to tell him what was bothering him, it would come in its own time.
A few minutes passed while JC played the keyboard and scribbled down notations, and Justin continued to study the ceiling. Finally, when he couldn't take it any more, Justin burst out the question that had been bothering him.
"Don't you think that there's more to me than just being pretty?"
JC's head snapped up at the belligerent tone, and the words themselves. "Wha... Jus, what are you talking about?"
Now Justin felt really stupid, but he'd already dug the hole this deep, so he might as well go all the way. "You said you'd want to kiss me because I'm the pretty one. Don't you think that's a little shallow? I mean, it's like you don't think there are any qualities about me except how I look."
Brow furrowed, JC looked at Justin, perplexed. Then he started to laugh, which just pissed Justin off more, and the madder Justin looked, the harder JC laughed.
"Is that what's bothering you? That stupid game?"
Justin sighed in exasperation. "JC, you're my best friend. If you think the only reason someone could be attracted to me is because I'm pretty, that's kind of depressing, don't you think?"
Realizing he wasn't going to get any more work done tonight, JC turned the keyboard off and turned on his side to Justin, who was still flat on his back looking up.
"Okay, first off, I never said that I would only be attracted to you because you're pretty. That wasn't the question. Chris asked me if I was a girl, who would I go for. I assumed this meant the typical fan, who only knows what she's read in magazines or seen on TV, not someone who has spent almost every day with you for six years. The question wasn't about who I would want to kiss at all."
Justin turned his head, and looked at JC. "Who would you have said if he'd asked you who you wanted to kiss?" The question came out very softly, and he was surprised to realize how important the answer was to him, though he wasn't entirely sure why.
"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not in the habit of making out with my bandmates."
Mirroring JC's posture, Justin pushed himself up on his side. "That wasn't my question," he pointed out.
Flustered, JC looked away. "Well, we're not playing the game anymore, so I don't really think I have to answer that."
Justin flopped back on his back, the pout back in full force. "Fine." So JC didn't want to kiss him at all, even if he was pretty. That was just fine. He didn't care at all. At least, that's what he told himself, trying not to let tears form in his eyes.
JC looked at Justin's lower lip quivering, and wanted to laugh again, but he knew it would just upset the younger boy more. Lightly he reached out and touched Justin's cheek, so that he turned to look at him. His eyes, swimming with tears that he was trying to hold back, looked impossibly liquid and blue in the dim light.
"If someone had asked me -- me, JC, not some imaginary person -- who I wanted to kiss it would have still been you, Justin. And if they'd asked why, I would have told them it was because I know how beautiful you are, inside and out. I know how much you care about people, and how passionate you are about the things you love. I would have told them that I love it when we're on stage together, and there are thousands of people around me, and you flash me a look that I know is meant just for me. If they had wanted to know why, I'd have told them that I've watched this adorable little boy who could dance circles around the other kids grow up into a man who's pure poetry in motion."
JC's voice was low and hypnotic, his fingers lightly stroking down Justin's throat, and Justin didn't think he could have moved if his life depended on it. Not that he wanted to move -- or at least, not move away. As if he could tell what Justin was thinking, JC moved closer, his words now coming in hot puffs of air that tickled Justin's ear, making him shiver.
"I'd have told them that my best friend is someone who has to live every day with being one of the most famous people in the world, and yet he somehow never forgets that it's all about the music and not the adulation. And that you never stop supporting your friends, even when they act stubborn and pretend they don't need you, because you know that's when they need you the most. But you know what, Justin?" Justin just shook his head mutely -- what? -- since he was pretty sure he didn't have enough breath to speak. "I probably would have been lying. Because if someone asked me why I wanted to kiss you, and I told them the truth, the first reason wouldn't have been any of those, even though they're all true. Do you know why I'd want to kiss you the most?"
"Why?" Justin breathed the word, and it came out halfway between a sigh and a moan.
"Because you're sexy as hell." JC whispered it against Justin's mouth, practically touching him, and Justin swore he could taste the words on his lips.
They stared at each other, millimeters apart, neither one moving or even breathing. Then JC moved back, picked up his notepad, and started writing again, while Justin watched him with dazed eyes.
"That's what I would have answered," JC said in his normal tone of voice.
"Oh." His voice sounded very small in the quiet room. He couldn't believe that JC was just sitting there writing. Justin's heart was pounding a mile a minute, his breath coming in short gasps, and he had a hard on that wouldn't quit. How could JC be so calm?
Justin waited, but it seemed that was all JC had to say on the subject. Well. He'd gotten the answers he'd come for, right? So why was he still laying here?
"Well, I'm, um, going to go to bed. To sleep! I'm going to go to sleep, I think."
JC nodded absently. "'kay. Thanks for stopping by. Sorry if I upset you."
Upset? Was that what he called practically seducing him with those eyes, and those delicate touches, and that fucking sexy voice, and then leaving him totally cold? Then Justin realized he meant earlier, in the game. "Um, yeah. Whatever. No problem. I probably over-reacted." Just like he was over-reacting now. Or at least his body was.
Justin frowned when he realized JC wasn't going to answer him, lost back in his own thoughts and his music. Fine. Whatever. So JC didn't care if Justin was thrumming with tension, ready to jump out of his skin. He'd just go back to his room, and punch a wall or something. Or jerk off. Or something.
He was almost at the door when he felt air on the back of his neck, and heard his name whispered, and how the fuck did JC manage to move so silently anyway, he wondered, before strong arms spun him around and pinned him against the wall, and then he didn't think anymore at all.
JC's lips met his in a bruising, hard kiss that abruptly gentled, so that their lips were just caressing each other. His hands held Justin's biceps, holding him against the wall while his tongue lightly traced the outline of Justin's full, soft lips.
Justin let out a moan and buried his fingers in JC's long hair, pulling him closer and angling their mouths together. Their tongues tangled together, the kiss growing deeper and hotter by the second. JC's hands slid down Justin's sides to his hips, pulling their bodies flush against one another, and Justin could feel that JC was just as hard and aching as he was when their groins ground together.
Justin's head was swimming with confusion and lust. Any coherent thoughts were completely driven out of his mind by the feel of JC's mouth and hands and body. He didn't care that he'd never thought he was attracted to guys before, and he didn't care that he didn't think JC was, either. What he cared about was getting JC over to that bed and getting their clothes off before one of them was stupid enough to come to their senses and put a stop to this.
But before he could put that half formed plan into action, JC pulled away, with one last nip on Justin's lower lip that made him gasp again. He gave Justin a lazy smile, his eyes heavy with passion, and Justin really thought he might just melt into a puddle of desire right there against the wall.
"G'night," JC said, a little smile playing around his mouth. "Maybe next time someone will ask you who you want to kiss. Think about it. I'd be really interested in hearing your answer."
Justin nodded breathlessly. Next time. For the first time it occurred to him that this might just be something more than two horny guys getting freaky together. This might just be something... real. That thought made him even warmer than JC's kisses had.
JC opened the door for him, since Justin looked like he was just going to stand there and stare at him with big, wide eyes all night. He smiled to himself as he gently pushed the stunned young man out of the room. Part of him wanted nothing more than to drag Justin back into the room and finish what they'd started, but the more rational part knew that they should both think about what had happened tonight... and what, if anything, they wanted to happen next.
"Hey, Jus?" Justin turned back to look at him. JC deliberately licked his bottom lip, and Justin realized that JC was tasting him there, just as he could still taste JC in his own mouth. JC winked at him. "I knew that millions of teenage girls couldn't be wrong."
Justin stood in the hallway, staring at JC's closed door, and wondered how soon he could convince the group to play truth or dare again.
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