Justin/Joey - drag 3

Joey scanned the crowd for Justin as soon as he turned the corner and saw the concrete court, fenced with chain-link, and the groups of people standing around. Justin was fairly easy to spot, since he was a good head shorter than most of the other men there. Not to mention one of three white players, and the only one with long hair, though his was scraped severely back and braided at the nape of his neck. Dressed in baggy shorts and a loose pale-blue tank top, he couldn't have looked more different from the glamorous drag queen of a few nights ago as he stretched, and Joey had to blink and shake his head.

Joey gave him a quick, discreet wave as he got closer, and was glad he'd dressed appropriately for the occasion, even though it had meant he had to stop back at his place after leaving the office for a quick change out of 'business casual'. And still, he felt out of place, remembering all those days back in high school when he'd been forced to actually *play*. Remembered feeling bulky and awkward and way out of his element.

Justin waved back with a tight grin, and trotted over to him, high-top sneakers quiet on the pavement. He looked lean and fit and confident, though Joey could see nervousness in the tight clench of his hands at his sides.

"Hey," he said softly, grinning, stopping close to Joey but not reaching to touch. "You made it. Cool. You find it okay with my directions?"

"Yeah, it wasn't too much trouble," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets, too keep from reaching out to Justin. He looked really great, really different but really great. "Glad I'm not late, though, what with coming after work and all." He couldn't keep from smiling, though, and hoped that people couldn't read too much into it.

Justin smiled back, wide and white, and shook his head. "You working boys, I don't know. Glad you're not late, too, I got picked for the first team, we're starting in a couple minutes." He stretched his arms back behind his head, his whole body a lean arch, and then shook his hands out. "Now, remember, no freaking if I go down, right? Lance said he was gonna come, so you've gotta babysit him 'cause two people wigging out would be way too embarrassing. I'm kind of small so I gotta play scrappy inside. Don't worry, I don't ever get hurt bad." He touched Joey's wrist secretly with two fingertips, still smiling.

"Never thought I'd hear you described as 'small'," admitted Joey with another grin. "I won't freak out, promise. At least, not in public. Not until I have you alone to tend to your wounds and stuff. So where do I get to sit to have the best view of you without anyone knowing I'm staring at you?"

"Oh, I don't care if you stare at me," Justin said, his grin getting cocky. "Lotsa people do when I'm playing. But if you sit over there," he tipped his head at the rusty, decrepit bleachers on one side of the court, "Lance'll be able to find you, and you can see everything, and chances are you won't get nailed by a stray ball. And keep your fingers crossed that there won't be any wounds to tend, huh?"

"Justin," someone barked from the court, "get your ass over here already!"

"Gotta go." Justin pressed his fingertips to his mouth, then to Joey's, quick and discreet, and jogged towards the other players.

Joey tried not to draw attention to the gesture, and left his hands shoved in his pockets as he rounded the court to the bleachers. But not before taking a good long look at Justin's ass as he jogged away from him. He already knew how good he had it, with Justin, but a little reminder like that every once in a while was a good thing. And besides, it was probably good for him, to get comfortable with it. With his great appreciation for Justin's body.

Happily, the view from the bleachers was just as good as Justin promised, and Joey made himself at home.

When Lance showed up, the teams of five had split and were talking intensely at opposite ends of the court, the ball sitting alone in the center. Lance picked his way delicately across the court, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, and still managing to swish as he climbed the bleachers and settled next to Joey. He was holding a small white box, and nodded at Joey.

"I see I made it for tip-off," he sighed, without the preamble of a greeting. "I can't believe he's playing first game again."

"Is that a big deal or something?" asked Joey, glancing at the box, then up at Lance. And grinning. "Sorry, I'm really not a sports guy. I'm just here for the scenery. Or one particular bit of it, anyway."

Lance rolled his eyes, amused. "Yeah, I'm a big basketball fan. Only not. I'm just here because I bring the first aid kit," he shook the white box, "and because a bunch of the players are hot. It's only a big deal because, Justin says, the first game is the best because nobody's tired. I can't tell the difference, but *he* gets all verklempt about it."

"Well, that's great, then," said Joey firmly, staring at the box again. "I can't believe you brought a first aid kit, though, man. You're not his mom." Joey regretted it as soon as he said it, though, because Justin's mom wasn't someone who seemed to care whether or not he was getting roughed up on a basketball court.

"Good fucking thing, too," Lance bitched, as if reading his mind. "He needs *someone* to patch him up when he's bleeding everywhere, and god forbid he shows weakness by bringing bandaids. I'm just looking out for him." He stared at the court as the teams faced off, tense and poised, and the ball went up. Justin immediately dove for the tipped ball, didn't reach it in time, and pounded down the court with the rest of his team.

"Oh, it can't be that bad," insisted Joey. "It's not like football or something. In football you're *supposed* to rough each other up. I was terrible at basketball, but I remember that you're not actually supposed to attack each other. I might've been better at it if I could've."

Lance just raised a brow at him, shaking his head a little. "Joey, you haven't seen playground ball. Okay, there's no tackling, that's true. That's about it." He winced as someone went up for a rebound and caught an elbow to the head. Not Justin; Justin snaked between two much larger players and emerged with the ball, sprinting down the court, stopping at the white line and shooting, sinking the ball with apparent ease. Lance clapped enthusiastically.

"Hey, he really is good," said Joey, staring at him. Not that he hadn't expected Justin to be good, but... okay, yeah, he hadn't really expected him to be *that* good. He'd met him in a dress, he couldn't really be expected to think he was a great ball player. Or quite that fucking *hot* on the court.

"I've seen him sink free throws in four-inch pumps," Lance informed him blandly. "Not here, of course, but still. He probably would have gone to college on a scholarship, he's that good." He sighed, and set the box aside, propping his elbows on his knees. "'Course, then he wouldn't be nearly as fabulous. But still."

"His life could've been really different," murmured Joey. But no matter how hard his life had ended up being, Joey wasn'r sure that other life would have been any better. Justin would still have been who he was, and nothing would've changed that. That was certainly something Joey understood now -- you couldn't change who you were inside. "I'm selfishly glad he ended up here, though."

"Yeah, well," Lance smiled at him. "I'm pretty sure he's not so miserable about it himself these days. Ooooh." He stared at the court, someone on Justin's team had just stolen the ball, sank another long shot. "And he gets to play here, which, you know, is 'real playing,' if you ask him. He's a total sports snob, y'know. Almost as bad about it as he is about his gowns."

"Is he really?" laughed Joey. "And he actually looked at me twice? Wow, is he in for a rude shock." Joey had definitely gotten that Justin liked his sports, but not quite to *that* extent. "This isn't the only sport I'm hopeless at. As he'll find out, sooner or later."

"Oh, he doesn't care about other people," Lance said airily. "Otherwise he'd never last a day at Barney's. But for himself, it's gotta be the best. Frankly, if he was dating some big jock I'd be worried." He looked at Joey sideways. "So how is that going? The dating, not the sports."

"Good," said Joey, watching Justin even as he talked to Lance. He couldn't get over the difference in him, from both the guy he met at Barney's and the guy he'd brought home with him. "It's ... it's really good, Lance. I don't even know what else to say. I don't have anything to compare it to and ... it's been so wonderful. HE'S so wonderful. I can't get over it, how good this whole thing makes me feel. How scared, but how good."

"Good," Lance nodded, smiling a little. "That sounds about right, since you've been together, what, a couple of days? If you weren't a little freaked, I'd be worried." He winced. "Justin, god, don't fight with the man a foot taller than you," he sighed, almost talking to himself, watching Justin bump chests with someone he'd stolen the ball from. Other players broke it up, and the play kept going.

"Fiesty, isn't he," said Joey, and he was a lot more pleased than worried about him. He had a pretty good idea that when it came to this, Justin could take care of himself. "I"m probably more than a little freaked -- this whole thing has happened really damn fast, Lance -- but it's getting better. It's getting easier."

"Yeah, feisty," Lance said dryly. "Insane, more like it. That queen just doesn't know when she's outmatched." He shook his head. "Freaked isn't bad, necessarily, especially if it's getting better. And if you survived the introduction and all the drama since, you're definitely on the right track. Hey, you survived *Chris.*" Lance's smile was fond.

Joey smiled back. "Chris is something else, man," he said, shaking his head. "He's really something else. Justin is ... you know, a lot of him is still just a real big mystery to me. But I'm loving finding all this stuff out, every bit of it. Freaked isn't bad, no, but I think I'm really gonna enjoy the time when I'm not so freaked anymore and can just enjoy everything. Hey, is he supposed to be doing that?"

"No," Lance frowned. "Holding!" he shouted at the court, then turned back to Joey. "I don't know if that's even a basketball foul, but it is in football, so...anyway, Justin'll get him back. He's vicious." Lance sat back and crossed his ankles, very ladylike. "You'll figure Justin out soon enough, he's not that complicated. Mostly just a nice kid, you know?"

Joey shook his head at him, though. "He's real complicated," he insisted. "Because, okay, you think he's something. And then you meet him and you think he's something else. But he's a hundred other things, too, and they're all twisted up together and it's this huge challenge, to figure out what fits where and what parts affect what other parts. But ... yeah. He's just so sweet and nice, at his centre. At his heart." Right now he was watching Lance too, though. Trying to figure Lance out.

"You've made quite a study of him already," Lance pointed out, only a little sarcastically. "He's a dropout drag queen who's a basketball whiz, okay, he's multitalented. Me, I don't have to figure him out, I just have to keep him from breaking his head so Chris doesn't bitch at me for days and days, oh, NICE shot." Lance clapped again. "Just wait till you get him drunk, if you think he's complicated now..."

"It's good to have something to look forward to," said Joey, and grinned again. "What did I miss? Did Justin do something good again? I should've been watching..." But he was still looking at Lance, even as he kept track of the game out of the corner of his eye now. He'd only ever really seen Lance before, after, or during a drag show, never outside of one, never outside of Barney's. Had never really seen Lance acting naturally before, and he was a bit surprised by what he was seeing.

"He made a pretty shot," Lance told him, grinning a little. "Keep your eye on the ball, Fatone. Though I don't blame you for wanting to look at me instead." He smirked. "Oh, look, Justin's all sweaty now. Not that that's a surprise, but he's never had anyone here before to take him home and scrub him clean..." he trailed off suggestively.

Joey just smiled a little bit, at the -- mildly embarassing -- thought of that, and cleared his throat. "You're very pretty, you know," he said to Lance as he turned back to watch Justin again. Whoever said white men can't jump had clearly never watched Justin play. "Even when you're not all glammed up."

Lance smoothed an eyebrow with a delicate, manicured finger and smiled, looking down almost shyly. "Why, thank you, kind sir," he drawled, in a passable imitation of Scarlett O'Hara. "Aren't you just the sweetest thing? I think I'm starting to understand what Justin sees in you..." He winked at Joey, then turned back to the game. "Now that, that is a lovely piece of boy," he added admiringly, as Justin wiped his face with the hem of his shirt, revealing a washboard stomach.

Strange, how that very same body looked so much softer when sliding out of a form-fitting dress. At least, some parts Joey remembered being softer, and some other parts not soft at all. "He's something else, all right," he murmured, gazing at Justin even though he was just standing around at the moment. "He's so special."

Lance crossed his hands on his belly and leaned back, sighing a little, eyes still on the court. "He's something, that's for sure. A drama princess, start to finish. It took me a little while to warm up to him--he kind of exploded into our lives when Chris and I were just getting started, did he tell you?--but I'm glad I did. At the very least, he gives Chris something besides me to fret about."

"I've only heard bits and pieces," admitted Joey. "A bit from Justin, a bit more from Chris. Chris just ... he likes to have a pet project, huh? Someone to take under his wing? And I'm just the latest in a long line. Sounded to me like Chris had been head over heels for you right from the beginning, though."

"We were off and on. And off, and then on," Lance explained vaguely. "It was kind of confusing, especially when Wonder Boy there showed up, all long legs and hair and big eyes. He was Chris's pet project, for sure, not like you. You're more of a..." he eyed Joey consideringly. "You're like an addendum. You don't really need to be a full time project. Thank god."

Joey laughed, surprising a couple of the other people there at its abruptness. "Well, that's a relief," he said. "I guess I just needed that special Chris kickstart or something, to get me on the road to ... you know. Whenever. But *now*, now everything's good, right? I guess nothing's perfect, right from the start. But the way Chris talked about it, it just took one look at you and he was gone..."

"Can you blame him?" Lance tossed his head, smug. "It just took us a while to work out the details, is all. It wasn't perfect, nothing's perfect. But the things worth doing," he glanced pointedly at the court, where the ball had gone up again and Justin was flying down the court on the heels of a guy almost twice his size, "well, my mama always taught me that you just hang in there for those. Ride out the rough spots and hang onto the good times."

"And some of us," said Joey, watching Justin, "are just huge idiots and took forever to figure out just what would be worth doing in the first place. What would actually be worth hanging in there for. And believe me, I plan to. I can't be an idiot forever, after all."

"No one can, honey," Lance comforted. "It's okay as long as it ends in a reasonable amount of time, and you know, things happen when they're meant to. You dragged your feet, you dilly-dallied, and you *still* ended up with Justin Timberlake as your first boyfriend, so honestly you aren't doing so bad." He patted Joey's shoulder gently. "Maybe you were a nun in a previous life, or something."

Joey snorted and shook his head. "I don't think I was ever a nun, Bass. Well, maybe a lesbian nun. Are there lesbian nuns? Because before I met Justin I went through a lot of... well, nevermind that. I did get pretty lucky right off, huh? I have... wow. Boyfriend."

"I was thinking more about the karma than the sex," Lance sniffed, though he was smiling a little. "Yep, you're a taken man, and so early! Now that your eyes are open to all the fabulous men out there, you're off the market. What, did you get all the tomcat out of your system when you were faux-straight?" He crossed his legs neatly at the knee and regarded Joey brightly, clearly waiting for an answer.

The question hit Joey more seriously than Lance probably meant it to. "I... hope so," he said after a moment. "I know I've got a good thing. I don't want to fuck it up."

"Hmmm." Lance's bass hum was slightly disconcerting, coupled as it was with the pale pink nails tap-tapping against his knee. "Well, I guess we'll all just have to wait and see. Just be sure to tell him before you go get an itch scratched, I can't imagine him taking too well to cheating. And lord, the drama if that ever happened." He shuddered deliberately.

"No," said Joey firmly. "I mean no, I wouldn't do that. Not to Justin, no, not even if I did get comfortable enough to actually start looking at anyone else." Though, if he was being honest with himself, he was pretty much there already. Finally going out and doing something about his sexuality, it had opened so many doors inside him. Not that there was anything wrong with looking, but it still felt uncomfortable. "Justin means too much to me."

"Honey, don't go makin' promises your cock can't keep," Lance said kindly. "Not that I'm sayin' you can't walk the straight and narrow, but not many do, and it's not easy. Just make sure you've talked about it, and you both know what the rules are, so there isn't any confusion about what's okay and what's not. Don't forget to talk to him...important things *do* sometimes come out of his other head, too."

Joey's eyes widened at that, but he shouldn't have been so shocked, knowing what Justin's reputation was. Knowing that he hadn't earned himself one yet, either way. But this was *Lance*. "We have," he said finally. "Talked. A lot. Since I'm a really terrible, awkward gay man and wasn't really ready to jump right into bed with him."

Lance actually giggled at that, and patted Joey's shoulder gently. "You're not that bad, sweetie. Believe me, I've seen much worse. Hell, I've *had* much worse. And it's worth it just to imagine you and Justin not jumping right into bed, or whatever. I'm glad you're talking, though, he's quite the little chatterbox once you get him going. It's kind of cute, as long as he's not doing it at you on a Saturday morning early."

"Early?" said Joey dubiously. "I don't know about that, Lance, I had a hell of a time getting him out of bed the other morning. I had to bribe him with food..."

Lance grinned. "I don't think he'd gone to bed yet that night, actually...he stayed with us for a while before AJ let him move in, and honey? I don't envy you even a little bit. Not in the mornings. What a *bitch*!" He fanned his face a little. "A little more friendly advice...have cereal ready. It's quick and easy, he likes it, and food in his stomach makes him almost human again."

"Oh, well, I just whipped him up some pancakes," said Joey breezily, smiling a little as he remembered that morning. "Hot food is good in the morning, and he seemed to like it. The cereal is a good call though, for those days that I don't want to drag *my* ass out of bed. Poor guy can't cook a thing." Joey looked up and met Lance's eyes and blinked a couple times. "I mean. Not that I expect him to be there all the time or anything, because..."

"Oh, of course not," Lance agreed with dry sarcasm. "I'm sure it'll be, what, couple times a week, max?" He blinked innocently at Joey, then pointed at the court. "Your boyfriend just scored. Again."

"What?" said Joey, his head snapping right back to the court again, finding Justin immediately. He smiled, even though he hadn't seen it. "Are they winning? He's doing really good, right? He looks all hot. And sweaty. And... hot."

"He's doing pretty well," Lance affirmed, still dry. "They're winning. And it's not polite to drool in public, Joey, geez." He nudged Joey with an elbow, raised his eyebrows as Justin was sent sprawling by someone's shoulder, then relaxed a little when he bounced back up. "He's a drippy mess. I hope your shower's big enough for two."

"I am *not* drooling," protested Joey immediately, and seriously, looking anywhere *but* at Justin as soon as Lance said that. "I spent a long time not being obvious about... things. And i'm not gonna blow that now."

"Why bother?" Lance examined a nail. "It's not like any of us care. Or he cares. Or the groupies care." He waved a hand at the gaggle of girls clustered by the fence. "There's nothing to blow. Well, besides the obvious."

Joey coughed politely. "Easy for you to say," he said finally, letting himself look at Justin again. If possible, he wanted him even more now that he'd seen this facet of him. "I mean... you're used to it."

"I sure am," Lance said, all smug satisfaction. "And you will be too, if Justin has anything to say about it, which I'm betting he will. Relax, big boy. Let yourself enjoy it. After all, you only come out once."

Joey looked around them, to see who was listening. "I was given to understand," he said, "that coming out isn't exactly an enjoyable experience. It's one thing to be obvious at Barneys, but it's quite another to be obvious, you know, *here*..."

"Just like anything else, coming out is what you make of it, mostly. Unless you're Justin or someone like him, then it's mostly just a disaster." Lance looked serious for once. "Don't swan around in a tutu if it's not your thing, but don't let something like being 'obvious' keep you from appreciating your boyfriend's hot self doing his thing."

"I'd look terrible in a tutu," said Joey after a moment, giving Lance a slight smile. "And believe me, I'm appreciating. I'm just... you know. New at this whole thing. Don't really know what people are gonna do, if I'm as obvious as I feel like being. And there's a hell of a lot of testosterone around here."

"True. You can just smell it in the air." Lance sniffed appreciatively. "You're not obvious at all, believe me...if I've managed to come to all seven games this year and not get bashed, you've got *nothing* to worry about. Stare away, honey. No one here cares, as long as he keeps making those three-pointers like he does."

Lance *was* a lot more obvious than Joey was, but he was also obviously a lot more comfortable about it. He was who he was, and was completely unapologetic about it. A lot like Chris, really, only much prettier. Joey could probably learn a lot from them both. "I'm gonna take your word for that, then," he said, and found Justin easily again. His eyes never really strayed far from him, even when he was talking to Lance. "He's amazing."

"He's certainly talented," Lance agreed, also watching closely. The play was even faster now, more frantic, and Joey had no idea how they were still running. "And, you know, fit. Definitely fit. He practices a lot, too. He hates being less than the best at something he's trying, watch out for that."

"God, I hope that doesn't mean I have to start working out again, to keep up with him," snorted Joey, leaning forward and resting his forearms on this thighs. "I gave up on that years ago. That kinda... I guess that's something else that explains the school thing, huh?"

"Which school thing?" Lance looked at him curiously. "Oh, you mean not graduating? I don't know, maybe, but I think it has more to do with him getting kicked around and spit on, stuff like that. And living in his friend's garage."

"I meant not going back now," said Joey softly, wincing a bit at hearing that. "He hasn't told me much about it yet, about how it was. I mean, just so you know. I just know that it was bad."

"Bad," Lance agreed, his drawl suddenly coming out much more strongly. "The south may rise again, but it ain't gonna be the faggots who do. We all done moved to more healthy climates." He grimaced a little, then shook his head. "Moving here was the best thing Justin could have done, back then. He's still not over it, but he's getting better. Just give him some time."

"I'm giving him everything I can give him," said Joey, and it sounded trite but it was true. He was already pretty much head over heels for the guy, and would do whatever he could to make his life easier and better. "I'm glad he's here, too, for all kinds of reasons. When, um, when did you come here, Lance?"

"Couple years ago," Lance said. "I came here for college, graduated and stayed. Chris was a big part of that, but I did *not* want to go back to Mississippi, no way, no how. This girl had found her home." He grinned a little. "And you're a local boy, I can tell."

Joey managed a grin back. "Well, since I was little, anyway, so pretty much local. It's a good place to be, it's been good to me. I supposed I should have a little more faith in it, now that me's a little different than me used to be. Mississippi must've been rough, for someone like you. I mean... no offense! But it's not known as being an. Um. Hospitable place."

"No, not really," Lance sighed. "I was a little more butch then, as you can probably guess. Oh, ouch, that'll hurt tomorrow." There was a tangle of bodies on the ground under a basket, and the players stood up slowly. "Game's almost over, they always get last knocks in late. It's a good thing we don't have a show tonight, he'd be hobbling around like a porn star after a gang bang scene out there."

"He could probably pull it off," said Joey admiringly, even as he bit his lip and made sure Justin was doing all right, as much as he could. "It's nice, that people can be who they are here. Can be happy. And... ow! Jeez, that didn't look good. And they think this kind of thing is fun?"

"Bizarre," Lance agreed, shaking his head. "Though some would say the same thing about pantyhose, so who am I to judge? Yeah, you're lucky, coming out here. But it means you get to do it the way we all wanted to, at least a little. Out and proud and holding hands with your boyfriend in a club." He wiped at an imaginary tear. "It's so beautiful!"

Joey snorted at him and he was still grinning. "I think I need to go home and stand in my bathroom and say "boyfriend" to myself over and over in front of the mirror, to get used to the idea. And possibly "gay", too." He liked to think he was getting used to this, but the truth was that it just hadn't been long. "And for the record, pantyhose *is* bizarre. It just gets in the way of the goal, you know?" And Joey even winked at him.

"Yes, but they make my legs look fabulous," Lance answered practically. "Also, they rip off quite nicely, if you don't get the control-top kind." He snickered at Joey. "If you practice in front of the mirror naked, it's bound to help."

"I can't imagine control-top pantyhose are comfortable," said Joey, wincing at the thought. "Special panties or no. And I'm sure your legs look fabulous anyway, Bass. Hey, are they done? Or are they just...?" Joey didn't know what else they could be doing. "And I don't need to do it naked. If I'm naked, there are plenty of better things I could be doing."

"They're done," Lance nodded. "All through, Justin hasn't lost any teeth, or too much skin, so today was clearly a success." He stretched languidly, watching Justin slap hands with the opposing team, then jog towards them. "I can't believe he's still moving at more than a crawl. The big freak. Take him away and wear him out, or something, Joey; just watching him makes me tired."

"Just watching him makes *me* tired," said Joey, his eyes widening at Justin's jog. He'd expected him to be limping over of something. The guy was made of stronger stuff than Joey, that's for sure. "You come to *all* his games?"

"Just the ones that Chris can't make it to," Lance said, waving at Justin and smiling back when he broke out a huge grin. "It's kind of a habit, y'know? Everybody else has family or girlfriends or whatever here to watch 'em play, I guess we just thought Justin should have someone here too." He looked at Joey sideways. "Of course, our attendance might drop now that you're around. Though Chris actually *likes* basketball."

"I don't mind the company," admitted Joey. "I'd feel awfully conspicuous if I was here alone." Not that he was any less conspicuous next to Lance -- more so, even -- but that was different. He didn't have to feel alone. "And with an audience I'm less likely to grab him and kiss him or something."

Lance only had time to snicker at that before Justin was bounding up the bleachers to stand by Joey's seat.

"Hey! Hey, we won! Did you see? Man, that guy, whatshisname, he was playin' me HARD." Justin looked thrilled at that. He was dripping a little, and wiped his forehead with the hem of his shirt again. "I got hammered out there. You got water?" Lance obediently produced a bottle of Evian. "Did you have a good time?" Justin looked at Joey eagerly.

Joey licked his lips before nodding, finding it harder than he thought to resist the urge he'd though he'd just been joking about. "You're really good," he said. "Like... *really* good." He'd had no idea that they won; it didn't seem real important except that Justin was thrilled about it. "I couldn't keep my eyes off you."

Justin blinked at him, then grinned again, looking even more delighted, if possible. "Oh, hey. Yeah. Yeah?"

"It's true," Lance interjected dryly. "I had to forcibly restrain him from running onto the court and making a scene. He barely heard a word I said. What a display." His smile was affectionate, though, and he handed Justin a towel as he took back the empty water bottle.

Joey hadn't thought to bring *any* of that stuff -- water, towel, bandaids -- and was feeling a bit sheepish about it. Lance was taking much better care of Justin than he was, and that just didn't seem right. "I wouldn't've," he mumbled, and grinned a bit. "But you're really sexy when you're being all athletic." He lowered his voice even further for that last bit, worried again about who would hear.

Justin's flushed face went even redder, and he looked down, tugging at the end of his braid. "I'm all nasty," he said, sounding a little unsure. "Completely sweaty and gross. Definitely not sexy. Oh, bye, Chris!" He waved at another player who had called to him. "Next week for sure, man." He turned back to Joey, blush fading. "I think I got concrete burn on my ass," he admitted sheepishly. "When we went down after that rebound. Um. I kind of want to go put something on it?"

"I knew it," Lance sighed, and handed him the white box. "Go home, clean up, bring this back when you come to the show, okay? You realize that's going to be hell in a slinky dress."

Joey just barely kept himself from blatantly staring at Justin's ass. "I think I can take care of that," he said, and tried to make it not sound as sexy as he was thinking it. "I'm a total klutz, I've banged myself up a hundred times, I think that'll translate into being able to take care of someone else. And you don't have to perform tonight, right? It's your night off?"

"Yeah, it is," Lance answered for him. Justin was busy looking into Joey's eyes and licking his lips. "So you can keep him, just patch him up and send him back to us in one piece, okay?"

"Geez, Lance, he's not gonna *break* me," Justin said impatiently, then blushed again. "Um. What I mean is, Joey'll fix me up good, and we'll be fine, it'll all be fine." He fidgeted down a step, looking back at them. "Are we going?"

"Are we ready to go?" asked Joey quickly. "Do you have to do anything else? Say bye to anyone else? Because we can go now, any time now. Um. Lance, do you need a ride?" At least he still remembered that Lance was there.

Lance rolled his eyes expressively, and sauntered down the steps. "No, I've got the Jeep. Don't give me a second thought." He stood aside to make way for the two of them at the bottom. "Justin, sweetie, don't forget we've got rehearsal tomorrow, for the new jungle number. Don't blow us off, or Howie will kill you VERY dead." He waved them away.

"I won't forget," Justin promised earnestly. "I'll be there, don't worry. We can go now, Joey, I said later to everyone here, the next game's about to start anyway." He was standing very close.

"Then... okay, yeah, we should go," said Joey, resting a hand *very* lightly on the small of Justin's back. Just enough so that Justin could feel him there. "Go... back to my place? And. And I can take care of you."

"Right, okay," Justin said, wincing a little as they started walking. "Oooh, this is gonna hurt later, I bet. Can I use your bathtub? Or maybe that's not good for asphalt burn." He dropped his voice to a whisper. "I'm going to have to have very careful sex for a little while."

"Maybe we shouldn't... " said Joey, but he couldn't bring himself to quite say it. Not now that they already head, now that he knew just what it was like. "A bath might sting, but it would be good anyway. Not too hot. Then... then I guess you can decide. What you want. *If* you want."

Justin looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "Um. Yes? Unless..." he faltered a step, but recovered nicely, just as they reached the car. "Unless you don't want to, I mean. Of course. We've got all evening, I mean, I do, do you have plans or something? You don't *have* to take me home, Joey, I can get AJ to..." he made a vague gesture at his hip.

"No!" said Joey quickly, and a bit too loud. "No, I mean, of course I want. I've been wanting since before I got here and I've been wanting *more* since you started playing. I just, you know, don't want to be an asshole if *you* don't want. I'll still rub lotion on your ass and all."

Justin smiled a little, clearly relieved, and limped around the car to the passenger side. "Well, how about we start with the lotion and then we see? You're never an asshole." He carefully got into the car, waiting for Joey with big expectant eyes. "Can we maybe eat something too? At some point? Because my stomach thinks it's dying right now. Maybe *before* the bath and the lotion and the whatever else."

"Didn't you eat before playing?" Joey asked him. "Aren't you supposed to, to have energy?" Of course, this was Justin, he probably *had* eaten a couple hours ago. "I mean, of course I'll feed you. I can make a real meal or something, or make something real quick if you're staaaaaarving, like you say you are."

"I'm *so* staarving," Justin agreed fervently. "Only, you shouldn't have to cook for me, it's totally cool if you can just swing by a McDonalds or something, something fast. You're already bringing me home and rubbing my ass, after all." He giggled a little. "Wow, that sounds dirty. I ate lunch, I really did, but it was small and I'm so hungry again..."

"You don't want me to cook you dinner?" asked Joey as he started for his apartment. "I thought you liked my cooking. Of course, if you want fast food, of course we can get fast food. But if you're thinking it's trouble to cook, for me? You would be wrong. And I make a better hamburger than McDonald's does, if you give me half a chance."

"I just don't want you to go to any trouble," Justin fretted. "Of course I like your cooking, you cook better than anyone I've ever met, it's great. But only if you want. I don't want you to get sick of cooking for me already. I eat a lot. A *lot*." He sat carefully in the seat, his back away from the backrest, very upright. "Thank you for coming today," he added abruptly, like it was startled out of him.

Joey chuckled softly. "I know I should say something here about how talented you are, and how well you played and stuff, but mostly it was really hot to watch, Justin. You're fucking sexy when you're being butch. You're sexy as hell in a dress, too, when you're beautiful and hot. But today... you were incredible. Um. Do you mind if I keep coming, to see you play? Or is it going to be really obvious after a while and be a hassle for you?"

"No, no, keep coming," Justin said anxiously. "Nobody there comes, I mean, hell. LANCE comes to most of the games, and no one cares. You...you really think I was sexy out there? And DID you think I played well, aside from the whole butch thing?" He had turned so he could see Joey, and Joey couldn't help but notice that Justin's eyes strayed to his lap more than once. "You should totally come if you want to."

"Yeah, I'd love to," Joey muttered without thinking, then coughed politely. "I mean... yes. I totally want to keep coming and watching you, even though I don't know much about the game, even less than the most basketball-stupid person knows, and I thought you looked like you were doing good but I really had no idea and you're going to have to teach me."

"I think I can do that. It's easy as anything," Justin answered, sounding a little distracted. His hand crept across the well, and settled gently on Joey's thigh. "And anyway, you said you had books about sports, you've got to know some things about it. It's a lot easier than baseball rules, anyway." He tightened his fingers just a little; Joey could feel the heat of his hand even through his jeans.

Joey swallowed and didn't dare look down. It was pretty important, right then, that he at least make a token effort of looking at the road as he got them home. "You're going to have to teach me everything," he said finally. "You're the expert, after all."

"Mmm," Justin hummed in absent agreement. "How far are we from your house? In minutes, not miles?" His hand slid higher on Joey's thigh, until it was resting at the crease of his body, fingers curled down and around. "Wow, look what I found." There was laughter and heat in his voice, though he was staring straight ahead just as intently as Joey was, and his cheeks were scarlet.

"Well, I think maybe that wasn't hard to find," said Joey after a moment, his voice catching, and he tried to laugh and make it light but the truth was, however many minutes it was to his house, it was that much too many. "I think maybe it was doing everything it could to be noticed. I think we still have... maybe five minutes?" He stepped on the accelerator.

Justin turned his wrist and there wasn't even any pretense about it, now, and his own breath caught even harder than Joey's had. "I wanna blow you in the car," he whispered, like it was a shameful secret. "While you're driving, where anyone could see, if they were looking, but they probably won't. But I can wait till we get home if you go *really* fast."

"I..." Joey began. "I..." He reached down under the seat and hit the latch and moved himself further away from the steering wheel, before he could change his mind. Making room for Justin. "I'll slow down so I don't smash the car." It seemed like a stupid thing to say, after he said it, but it was all he could think of.

Justin's eyes widened, disbelieving, but he unfastened his seatbelt with hands that Joey could see shaking and then he was bending across the emergency brake, barely fitting but curling himself over Joey's lap, making a little eager sound as his fingers fumbled with Joey's zipper. "Oh," Justin sighed as he pulled Joey free of his boxers. "Wow, you're really hard. You must have been hard for a really," *lick* "really," *lick* "long time." Without any more words, he sank his head down into Joey's lap, neatly swallowing his cock."

"Oh God," muttered Joey as little chills of pleasure shot through his body, and he struggled not to close his eyes. Getting off the main road would probably be a good idea, but turning seemed like too much trouble to go to. And Justin was making happy little noises in his lap and all he wanted to do was bask in it.

He rested his free hand on the nape of Justin's neck, under the braid, where the skin was still hot and damp, and concentrated fiercely on driving a straight line at a constant speed. It was so hard, though, when Justin's tongue was swirling around him, and Justin's lips were moving up and down the length of him, and those *sounds*...sucking, and Justin's contented hum, and Joey really *had* been hard for a long time, it just wasn't fair. He gasped and his leg jerked and the car lurched forward, and the hum changed to a low chuckle that vibrated all up and down his cock.

This time his eyes did flutter shut for a moment, two moments, and now he really did need to get off the road, turning abruptly and the next corner and swerving over the centerly as he tried to regain control. And the whole while Justin stayed calm -- and busy -- in his lap, making Joey feel incredible.

He could feel the tension knotting in his thighs, his belly, and he yanked the car to the side of the road and threw it into park, dropping both of his hands to Justin's head as he thrust up into that incredible hot mouth, once, twice, and he was coming, incredible pleasure turning the insides of his eyelids white as he moaned Justin's name.

When he opened them again, Justin was slowly pulling away, smiling a little, his mouth red and swollen and bruised-looking, lips shiny-wet.

Joey was still stunned for a moment, then he let out a surprised, happy laugh and gasped for breath. "I can't believe we just did that," he said finally, and ran his thumb gently over Justin's lower lip. "You're beautiful."

Justin grinned, pleased, and licked Joey's finger teasingly. "YOU are," he argued playfully, then glanced around. "Hey, you stopped. We should probably keep going, you know." He shook his finger at Joey. "This is not an approved parking zone, you know. And I need my dinner."

"I thought you just *had* your dinner," teased Joey, taking another few moments before reaching down and tucking himself back in. "Or I guess that was just a snack, huh? I had to stop before I killed us both or something. That would've been bad. And... and I hope it's not completely rude of me to wait until we're home before, um, returning the favor?"

"If you can figure out a way to drive and give head at the same time...well, you're a lot smarter than anyone I've ever met, that's all," Justin said seriously, though his eyes were still smiling. "And that was *not* dinner, that was a snack. Definitely. I'm glad you didn't kill us, thank you, please please please drive us home now?" He was squirming a little in the seat, eyes all pupil.

Joey nodded and caught his breath and started driving again, taking the back way to his apartment. But he couldn't leave Justin just sitting there squirming, so after a moment he hesitantly reached into Justin's lap and fondled him a little, eyes on the road. "We're almost there, I promise," he said.

"Nhhhhh," Justin replied, just a painful sound forced through clenched teeth, as he pushed his hips forward into Joey's hand. The warm silky fabric of his basketball shorts made everything slidy and sensuous, and when Justin moaned, Joey had to take his hand away or risk another accident. "Hurry up," Justin demanded breathlessly. "You know, your neighbors are gonna think I'm a big freak, every time I come over we're running into the building like something's on fire."

"My neighbors..." began Joey, then stopped himself and thought better of it. Justin didn't need to hear that Joey's neighbors would only be surprised by the gender of the person seen dashing into his apartment with him. "I'm hurrying, Justin, I'm hurrying." He didn't feel any more in control now than when Justin was blowing him, but he somehow managed to make it into his parking space intact.

"Thank god," Justin breathed, and bolted out of the car like something really *was* on fire, beating Joey to the door and waiting impatiently for him to open up. The second they were in the elevator, Joey had an armful of Justin, pressed against him from toe to shoulders, licking eagerly at his ear and murmuring things that sounded dirty, even if Joey couldn't quite make out the words. He was pretty sure there was a "fuck me," and a "please," and an "oh, Joey," in there somewhere, though, and it made his hands shake so much that he fumbled the key to his apartment three times before getting the door open.

"But your..." said Joey, running a careful hand over Justin's ass as they stumbled into the apartment together. "I don't want to... except I do. Don't let me hurt you, Justin." And that was pretty much all he could offer when Justin was rubbing against him, and practically begging him.

"It won't hurt, I'll be on top," Justin mumbled, tugging him towards the bedroom. "Just don't squeeze too hard and I'll be fine, it'll be great, I want this SO much." He let go of Joey's hand long enough to toe out of his shoes, yank off his socks and strip out of his shorts and shirt, then paused, completely bare. "Oh, oh, I'm still all sweaty from the game." He looked at Joey anxiously, poised to move. "You want me to take a shower first?"

"No," said Joey right away, getting hard again just looking at him. "I mean... not if you don't want to. You're more than fine just the way you are. Let's just... bedroom, Justin. Or wherever. Anywhere."

Justin grinned then, relief lighting up his face, and threw his arms over Joey's shoulder, leaning his whole lanky frame on him. "Yeah? Bedroom. I think." He leaned in and finally kissed Joey, mouth hot and eager, rubbing up against him with a full-body shiver. "C'mon, c'mon," he murmured against Joey's lips, "nownownow."

Even though Joey still wasn't used to this, when he just let go it came naturally. Justin wanted bedroom, *he* wanted bedroom, so there they went with no fuss at all. Justin felt hard and slick against him and Joey *wanted* it, he just wanted it, he didn't need to think about it. He *shouldn't* overthink it. Justin had already blown him in the car; anything they did now was pretty much vanilla.

Justin chuckled a little, looking at his face, and Joey wondered what was showing there. "You look kind of clobbered," Justin explained, making short work of his shirt and then shoving him gently down onto the bed on his back. "Oh, shit, almost forgot!" He scrambled out of the room, giving Joey his first look at the angry red scratch on his ass, and came back in waving a strip of condoms and a white tube triumphantly. "I brought these. Um. Just in case."

Joey laughed softly, and inside he was relieved. He still felt guilty about the last time, a little, that they hadn't even thought to use anything. "I guess you knew how I would react to seeing you, huh?" he said, to hide his growing nervousness. Once Justin was there on top of him, he was sure he would be fine. It was the anticipation that was getting to him. "Come here."

"Okay," Justin said agreeably, climbing onto the bed and dropping the lube and condoms by Joey's shoulder. "I guess it was more I *hoped* we would end up here sometime today, or tomorrow, whatever. I got these yesterday." He slid onto Joey's body, blanketing him and twining their fingers together as they lay like starfish. "Don't worry," he murmured. "You're good at this."

"I'm not worried," Joey lied, but now that Justin was on top of him, it became more true. "I just really want you, Justin. I just... *really* want you. You're amazing, you're amazing to me." He ran his hand carefully over Justin's ass again and forced himself not to grip it the way he wanted to.

"You're amazing to me, too," Justin confessed, eyes crinkling up with his big smile. "Now, enough mutual admiration. I've been waiting *forever!*" He squirmed his hips against Joey's, letting his legs fall outside Joey's thighs until he was almost straddling him. "You've got too many clothes on."

Joey couldn't get over it, though, how lucky he was to have Justin there. How it really shouldn't be an issue at all, for him, because Justin *was* amazing. "If I'm too dressed," he said finally, forcing himself to snap out of it and take advantage of the lucky situation he was in, "then that's your fault for not stripping me before starting to ravish me."

"I thought you were gonna ravish *me*," Justin pointed out, still grinning, though his eyes were watching Joey's face carefully as he rolled off to the side, freeing Joey to struggle out of his pants. With his hair pulled back so tightly, his eyes looked even larger, the strong jawline more masculine and sharp. This Justin didn't look like a woman at all. "Here, let me," Justin said softly, as Joey struggled with his zipper.

"Probably a good idea," Joey said, pulling his hands away and letting Justin take care of him. He was tempted to run them through Justin's hair, pull it loose and flowing over his shoulders, but he didn't. He left it be and looked at the lines of Justin's face, looked at his eyes and the way they fluttered closed as he reached into Joey's pants and stroked him slowly before even taking them off.

Justin slid his hands down the outsides of Joey's thighs, bringing his jeans with them, tugging them off his feet after making quick work of his shoes and socks. Before Joey even had a moment to feel awkward or exposed, Justin was back on top of him, skin to bare skin, looking down into his face with that same little smile. He leaned in and kissed Joey lightly, just a touch of their lips, before propping himself on his hands.

"So. What now?"

"I think... you said something about wanting to. Um. Ride me," suggested Joey, smiling up at him and licking his lips. No matter what they did now, though, he was already hard and warm and content, and happy to be right where he was. With Justin. "And we'll be careful. Because you hurt your ass and all."

"Right. No bruising the ass any more," Justin said, his cheeks flushing red as soon as Joey said 'ride me.' "Lance'll be mad if I can't slink around right tomorrow, so, yeah, that seems like it would be good." He twisted his hips down a little, bringing their cocks together in a hot damp slide, and his mouth dropped open a little. "Ooooh."

"O-or we could do that," said Joey, the wet slide intimately familiar, from partners he'd had before. The difference was the hardness between Justin's legs, the wonderful hardness of him that Joey wanted to badly to feel. Had wanted to feel for a long time without ever really realizing it. "Or anything. Really, Justin, anything."

Justin's head dropped down between his hunched shoulders, like it was too heavy for him to hold up, and his breathing picked up speed as he kept moving. "What...do YOU want...to do?" He gasped out, and Joey could feel his arms quivering with the strain of keeping him propped over Joey like that. "Anything, Joey," he echoed his words back at him, but didn't stop moving, never let up that little shimmy that was pushing his cock down along Joey's belly and sliding his thighs over Joey's with breathtaking smoothness.

"I want to come while I'm looking at you," he said instantly, and felt like a dork afterwards for giving him that kind of answer, but it was the truth, right at that moment. "I mean..." He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling that wet slide again and gasping. "Will you let me? You know? All careful?"

"Yessss," Justin hissed out, dropping his legs outside Joey's again, sitting down carefully until he was cradled in the curve of Joey's pelvis. He sat up a little, sliding his hands down Joey's chest, pausing to play with his nipples, tongue sticking out just a bit in concentration. "You can do anything you like with me," he added after a long moment, when he had Joey arching and gasping under his hands. "I'm all yours, you know."

"It goes both ways," said Joey, pushing himself up carefully against Justin's body and gasping again. "I want to do what *we* want to do. And... oh, I hope we want this. I hope we want this, Justin."

"Which this?" Justin asked, deliberately teasing, grinning a little at Joey's reaction, though his breathing wasn't steady either. "The this that's like this?" He settled himself carefully over Joey's cock, riding it gently. "Or the *this* this?" He ran his hands down Joey's chest and belly, pushing himself straight up until he was sitting fully on Joey, knees up along his sides. "'cause I like all the thisses."

"Let me inside you," said Joey, a little demanding and a little hopeful, and maybe a little pleading, too. "Justin... Justin... let me, let me do this again, I won't go anywhere this time, I promise. I'll be right here, you and me."

"Okay," Justin whispered, reaching for the condom and lube. "'Kay, Joey. Just, no going away. And go slow." He popped the cap on the lube and pressed it into Joey's hand, watching him with dark eyes as he slipped up a little further on his body, so Joey could reach him more easily. "Get me all slippery first."

Joey's breath caught as he thought about just what they'd be doing, but only for a second and then he was getting lube on his fingers and reaching forward and his body knew what to do. He went so slow, so careful, smearing lube on Justin first and pushing a finger inside him. "Thank you," he whispered, and he wasn't sure why.

Justin blinked at him slowly, face vague as he squirmed his hips against Joey's hand. "Oh," he said quietly as Joey's finger went deeper, past the second knuckle. Joey couldn't believe the feeling, smooth and burning-hot, and the quick flutter of Justin's muscles as he fought to relax. "More, please, Joey?" and Joey would have laughed at his manners if he'd been able to find the breath.

Joey tried not to laugh again as he thought about just how much more he wanted to give him right then, and tried another finger instead, making sure Justin was slick and ready and squirming on his hand. But not taking it too far, because he knew where he wanted this to end and it wasn't with his fingers.

"Okay," Justin said, exhaling the word on a breath, and starting to move his hips with *intent*. "Now, now, it's good now. You can." He raised up on his knees, clearly trying to be helpful, wriggling impatiently. "C'mon, please, I've been hard since the *game*, pleaseplease, Joey, inside, please?"

"Okay, okay," said Joey. "Okay, yes, yes!" He removed his fingers carefully and groped for the condom. "I just gotta..." He knew it had to be nearby, and then there it was, and he grasped it in his fist before tearing it open. He had to do it fast or he was just going to decide to fuck it and smear himself with lube, bare, and drive inside Justin's body, just like that.

Justin's hand tangled with his as they both reached for him, and it startled a breathless little laugh out of Justin, who leaned back on his thighs, all bare and long and shining, and watched Joey fumble with the wrapper and the condom. "Stupid thing," he muttered, as Joey almost dropped it, then reached for Joey's cock again, holding it up, stroking it lightly and rubbing his thumb over the head.

Joey gasped and bit down hard on his lip as Justin touched him. "You're not making this any easier," he murmured, letting his hands grow slack for a moment. "God... Justin... want you."

"Want you too," Justin said back, a little thread of sound as he inched back up Joey's thighs, still stroking him, letting go reluctantly as Joey gestured weakly with the condom. "Quick quick," he urged, fingers now playing in the dark curls they'd fallen into when he let go. Joey was so hard he ached, despite coming so soon before, and he couldn't even imagine how Justin was feeling. "Get it on, get in me, nownownow..."

Joey finally got it out and rolled it quickly along his length, grateful that there were no further problems with it. SO grateful. He smeared more lube on himself without taking any care with it at all then looked up and met Justin's eyes again. "Okay," he breathed, and smiled at him. "Move up, just a bit, just a bit..."

Justin did so, flatteringly eager, hovering over Joey's body uncertainly until everything was lined up. With a sigh that sounded like relief and pleasure and pain all in one, he sank back down, pushing his hips back in little twists that drove all the air out of Joey, and made Justin himself whimper and bite his lip. His lashes fluttered against his cheek, and he grabbed for Joey's hand and clenched it tightly.

"Oh God," breathed Joey, and he didn't think he'd ever get tired of this, no matter how many times they did it. And he hoped it would be many, many times. "Justin... god." He let instinct take over again, clutching him back and pushing up into him carefully, slowly, biting his lip hard but not closing his eyes. No, he couldn't bear to rip his eyes away from Justin.

He was finally in, Justin's hipbones pressing into his pelvis, and Justin froze for a moment. "Just a second," he breathed, "different this way, give me just a second." He was so tight it almost hurt, and Joey just stared at him, trying to breathe normally, trying not to just toss Justin over on his back and thrust away, and he was rewarded when Justin made one tentative circle with his hips. A little smile started on his face, and his eyes opened, staring right back at Joey.

"Oh," Joey breathed and he knew he had to look absolutely shellshocked at the sensation. It was new and wonderful, so tight, so hot, so fantastic. "God, I hope this is good for you because it's *great* for me." And as Justin moved again Joey pushed up into him, making it all into one big motion, one big sensation.

Justin laughed, almost a moan, and nodded. "So good, so great, perfect," he said, before settling in and starting to ride. Up and down, a twist of his hips, every once in a while he'd jerk and shudder as Joey hit something good inside. Joey could see the muscles in his thighs bunch and strain to move him just right, and Justin had a hand braced on Joey's belly, as the other one crept towards his own cock. "It's gonna be fast," he whispered desperately. "Sorry, Joey, but..."

"At least..." murmured Joey. "At least let me, Justin." He curled his fingers around Justin's cock and stroked him, shakily at first but quickly finding his rhythm. He was watching Justin's face, waiting to see him come. Desperate to capture that moment of ecstasy.

Justin grabbed his wrist with harsh fingers and cried out, bending forward as he came, every muscle in his body tightening convulsively, his knees clamping to Joey's sides, eyes wide. "Holy FUCK," he got out between pulses, shivering and shaking and milking Joey's cock with every move he made.

"Oh, Justin," Joey breathed, as what was already tight became even tighter. It was all almost too much for him. "Oh Justin, baby, don't let me hurt you..." And he started thrusting into him in earnest, right on the cusp himself, desperate now to catch up, to come with him. "I just need to..."

Justin nodded at him wordlessly and relaxed, let Joey grab his hips and pull him down into the thrusts, throwing his head back and moaning as Joey pounded into him. "Joey," he whispered again, and the sound sent Joey over the edge, shouting and holding onto Justin as his heels dug into the bedspread and his whole body exploded.

Joey didn't know how he ever lived without this. Without *this*, and without Justin in general. Beautiful, wonderful, hot Justin. He remembered, at least, not to clutch Justin's ass as his world went white for a moment. "Oh god," he said again, barely getting the sound out, and sank back into the bed, pulling Justin with him.

Justin collapsed down onto him like a puppet without strings, going limp and boneless in an instant. He was heavy on Joey, sprawling like that, but his face was pressed into Joey's neck and he was dropping little kisses there, all he could reach without moving his head. "I think if it keeps getting better I'll be dead soon," he said thoughtfully, after a long pause. "Death by sex." His giggle was still a little breathless, and Joey could feel his heart still rabbiting away.

"Can't think of a better way to go," murmured Joey, and just wrapped his arms around Justin and held him right where he was. "You okay? You feel good? No new bruises?"

"None," Justin confirmed, sounding sleepy now. "None yet, anyway. That was so good it wouldn't matter anyway." He licked Joey's throat once, more affectionate than sexy, and melted even further into his body. "I feel *really* good, Joey. Like, basketball, then sex? I think that's what I want to do every single day."

"If only," said Joey, figuring he could skip the basketball part. But then again, watching Justin play was pertty damn hot. "Justin, baby, I gotta..." He grunted and shifted their bodies a little. "I gotta take care of the condom, okay?

"Mmmmph," Justin complained, but slid over to the side, just a bit, freeing Joey's arm. "Okay, but just toss it. I wanna lie here all sticky for a while before we go shower." He grinned at Joey and started tugging at his braid, pulling out the band, and Joey was overwhelmed all over again by Justin. Justin, naked in his bed, after sex.

"I'm not just gonna *toss* it," he said, though, and slid it off carefully, with a slight hiss, but the garbage was far away. Too far. Joey tossed. "Okay, good," he said, hoping it landed where it was supposed to. He turned back and Justin's curls brushed his cheek. "Oh wow," he breathed, and he just wanted to kiss him. Wanted nothing more than to kiss him over and over.

Justin tilted his head and offered his mouth, and Joey didn't need more of an invitation than that, curling on his side with Justin held close, kissing him leisurely and over and over again. Justin was so vocal, everything that Joey did to him inspiring a hum or a murmur or a gasp, and Justin's hands were feathering light little touches over his body, like Justin was learning him by Braille. "Good," he sighed, when they had to pause to breathe.

Joey's knee slipped between Justin's legs as they became tangled up in one another. He didn't want to run this time. He didn't *need* to run this time. Everything felt so right and that wasn't such a scary thing anymore. "We should just stay," he said quietly. "Right here. Just stay. For a long long time."

"I thought that was kinda the plan," Justin said lazily, trailing fingers up and down Joey's spine. "I mean, I don't have to be anywhere else, do you? Except, food. We never stopped for food." As if it was listening in on the conversation, his stomach rumbled, and he blushed a little. "And I think Iron Chef is on tonight, too. But other than that? I'm here."

"You think we can wait on the food for a little bit?" asked Joey, kissing him again. "Or... I could cuddle you in the kitchen, I guess. And then cuddle you in the living room while we eat and watch TV. And wherever else we happen to be."

"I can wait on the food," Justin said after a moment of thought, kissing him back happily. "I think I need a couple more minutes before my knees work anyway. Oh god, I'm gonna be so sore tomorrow!" He rolled his eyes at himself and stretched his legs out carefully, wincing. "That doesn't mean you can't cuddle me in the living room, too, though."

"You're not supposed to be sore tomorrow!" said Joey. "You have to be slinky and stuff. And prettyinadress. You want me to give your legs and back a good rub later, work the kinks out? I wouldn't mind." Like he would actually mind anything that meant he would have his hands all over Justin.

"Mmm, would you? Athletic basketball plus athletic sex makes for a very sore Justin," and he smiled gratefully at Joey, curling closer. "I won't be sore tomorrow, AJ has stuff that helps, if I'm still a little achey tomorrow and Advil won't work. Those high heels can be a real bitch, you know. Especially when you gotta slink in 'em."

"I can imagine," said Joey, frowning a little at that. "What kind of stuff does AJ give you, baby? Do you take it very often?"

"Nah, just for things like this," Justin shrugged. "I dunno, some kind of painkiller, better than tylenol or whatever. This one time, I had this huge blister on my foot, I could barely get my new green heels ON, much less walk in 'em. AJ saved my bacon then. And when I sprained my wrist, too, and once in a while for a really bad hangover or whatever."

Joey still frowned, though. "And you don't know what it is? I'm not sure I like that, Justin." But it wasn't like he had any say in the matter, and he was probably overreacting. And it wasn't like he didn't take things a whole lot more recreational that that. "As long as it's not that much, I guess. You still feeling good?"

Justin was blinking at him, looking a little confused, but nodded. "Definitely. All rubbery, like I lost my bones." He stretched luxuriously, toes reaching for the end of the bed, hands gripping the headboard. "Mmmm. A good rubbery, though. If you rub me it'll be even better."

"I'll definitely rub you," said Joey, running his hand carefully over Justin's hip. Justin's stomache rumbled again when Joey got close to it, and he grinned. "I know, I know," he said, patting Justin's abs fondly. "You're a growing boy. Let's get you fed, then."

Justin made a pitiful sound and flipped over, burying his face in the pillows. "Don't wanna move," he sighed, muffled by fabric and down. "You said you'd put lotion on my butt, remember? Do that first, then I can take a shower, because pretty soon you're gonna wish I had."

"I hardly even noticed," said Joey, and it was true. They were both sweaty and naked now, and not much else mattered. "Okay, lotion, where did we leave it again?" He didn't think it was back in the bathroom, and he was right; it was sitting on the dresser. "Why's it always me that has to get up first, anyway?" he grumbled, and stroked his hand down Justin's back before rolling off the bed and fetching the lotion. "You're spoiled."

"I know it," Justin mumbled. "You're good to me, plus, you're more high energy or something after sex, I dunno. Make sure it's the kind with the antibiotics in it, think how much it would suck if it got infected?" He lifted his hips off the bed and wiggled them invitingly, face still deep in the pillows, hands fisted in the bedspread. Justin clearly had made himself comfortable.

Joey sighed and put the lotion back down. "All right, finem I need to go into the bathroom then. Don't... go anywhere." Joey didn't think there was any danger of that, though, and when he came back from the bathroom, fresh lotion in hand, Justin was still in the same position pretty much. "My spoiled baby," he said, but he didn't mind so much, and he sat down on the edge of the bed.

Justin moved enough to peer over his shoulder with one smiling eye. "Thank you, Joey," he said, in a baby voice. "You're so sweet to me. See, I didn't go anywhere." He dropped his head back down at the first touch of Joey's hand, and sighed happily. "Hey, are you going to that dinner thing on Wednesday? And am I still coming?"

"Of course we are," said Joey, rubbing carefully. The bruising looked kind of vicious. "Kevin and Kristin are expecting us, both of us. it'll be totally non-stressy, I promise, just good food and friends, and we don't have to do anything."

Justin sighed deeply. "Except talk to strange people," he said mournfully. "You know I'm not good at that, especially since I'm gonna be your first boy...whatever, ever, and that's even more of a thing." He winced away from Joey's hand, then relaxed again. "Ow."

"It looks really ow," Joey told him. "I can't imagine wanting to go back if this happens all the time, when you play. Do you really love it so much? Though, if you can handle that, you can handle anything my friends could throw at you, trust me."

"It's totally different," Justin protested. "I'm good at basketball, I'm not good at...people. Most people. What if they're not nice to me? What if they secretly hate me for making you gay? I won't know what to say!" He twisted around to stare at Joey. "Maybe I shouldn't go. You should just go without me, they're gonna hate me, I know it."

"I don't want to go without you," said Joey, resting his hand comfortably on Justin's back. "I just... don't. They're a couple, and they'll be inviting couples and I'm a couple, too, and I want to show them than. Besides, they're drama geeks, Justin. We've talked about this before; you're the one who told me they'd be pretty cool with me coming out. And you were right. So honestly, it's going to be fun. No stressing allowed."

Justin sighed and slumped back down. "I dunno about fun," he said, "but okay. I don't want you to be the only uncouple there. I'll try hard, I really will. But you can't make me not stress, not till after, I think. Is that all the lotion you wanna put on?" He twisted sideways and ended up sprawled across Joey's lap, more or less, gazing up at him through tangles of hair.

"I think that's all the lotion you're gonna need, unless you want to be sliding right off my lap," said Joey, brushing the hair away from his face. "And I think my friends are going to like you. I know I do." He reached for Justin's hand, and smiled a little as he really looked at it for the first time. "I didn't know you wore nailpolish to the games," he said. It was pale and barely noticeable, unless you were looking as close as Joey was. "It's all chipped now."

"I'm always a mess after games," Justin confessed, smiling back at Joey. "This one time, I was running late and I forgot to take off the bright green polish I was wearing, and I ended up scraping part of it off on the train and then putting bandaids on my other fingers. What a disaster." He shook his head. "The guys all know, I'm pretty sure, but green would have been a little much."

"Better than pink, though, I bet," said Joey, and kissed Justin's fingers. "You could touch it up, except the only colours I think i have here are candy apple red and black -- the red because someone left it behind a long time ago and the black as part of... something I wore, once. And I'm not sure those are quite what you were looking for."

"Nah, I have to take the old off before I put the new on, or it gets all lumpy and gross," Justin told him seriously. "I've got plenty at home, I'll fix it there." He rested his fingertips against Joey's lips for a long moment, then drew his hand away. "Okay, it's like, six. We should shower and stuff, or I'm gonna waste your whole evening laying around in bed, and I don't wanna do that. Also, I wanna soap you up."

"I think soaping me up sounds like a great idea," said Joey, tugging Justin gently up. "But just so you aren't disappointed later? I'm not sure I'm going to be getting it up again any time soon. No matter how great you look wet and lathery."

"Well, you did already come twice," Justin said forgivingly. "I think I look pretty good wet, though. My hair goes down to *here*." He pointed to the middle of his back. "I'm not into shower sex anyway, Chris once threw his back out doing it and it's just too slippery. I won't be disappointed at all." He stood carefully, stretching and wincing a little.

"Lance is going to kill me dead if you're not in good shape tomorrow," said Joey, running his hand all the way down Justin's spine. "Maybe we really should stick to rubbing only for the rest of the evening." Justin looked so amazing, though, Joey wasn't sure he could stick to that. Not when he'd just discovered how great being with a guy -- being with *Justin* -- could be,

"Lance can't kill you dead," Justin laughed, arching under Joey's hand like a cat being petted. "He's small and fem. Though he can fight dirty and he's a bitch, so, maybe it's better if I'm in okay shape." The look he sent over his shoulder at Joey as he walked out of the room was anything but innocent, though. "I'll let you rub," he purred, "if you let me rub you back."

"Justin," Joey laughed, patting his ass. "That's *not* what I meant. Man. I always knew I couldn't keep up with you. You're too... you."

Justin blinked at him, and seemed to deflate a little, losing his cocky swagger. "It's too much?" He asked uncertainly, hovering in the doorway, neither here nor there. "Do you want me to...you can keep up, you can totally keep up, I was just kidding."

"No, no," said Joey, laughing again and catching his hip. "I want you just the way you are, Justin. I just meant... you're really energetic. Enthusiastic. I think it's great! I promise."

"Okay," Justin said, eyeing him a little warily still. "But if I'm ever too much, you gotta say. No, like, eyerolling, and 'oh that Justin' kind of kidding but really not, okay?" He inched closer to Joey, nudging his hip into Joey's hand. "I like showers really hot," he confessed out of the blue. "Do you?"

"Yeah," he said, moving closer himself and catching Justin's eyes. "Whatever you want, Justin. I would... I would never think of you that way, okay? With the whole eyerolling thing? I wouldn't do that."

"Because people used to do that, tell me I was too much, and I thought it just meant that I was a handful, you know, like other kids, but it turned out I was wrong," Justin blurted earnestly, like Joey's words had unstopped the blocked words. "And I wouldn't want to be like that, something bad, for you, and not know. Okay?"

"Okay," Joey said, as gently as he knew how, and then just leaned in and kissed him. "I'm sorry people were ever like that to you, Justin. You're really... special. Amazing and special. And I would never want you to be anything but who you are."

Justin melted into him, face going all soft and fond, and he kissed Joey again, tiny delicate little kisses all over his mouth and chin. "Okay, okay. You're too good to be true or something, and I keep getting reminded of that. So, we should go get clean before I swoon all over your floor like the big nelly queen I am, and you have to break out the smelling salts." He giggled, and pushed his hair back away from his face. "You're awfully special too, Joey."

"Nah, I'm just Joey," he argued, shaking his head at him. "I'm nothing special. I, like, fade into the background when I'm near you, Justin, that's how bright you shine. Now into the shower with you before the smell makes me change my mind."

Justin rolled his eyes and hopped away towards the shower, only pausing long enough to check the water temperature before tugging Joey into the tub. "You could never fade into the background," he argued, a little loud so as to be heard over the water. He blinked water off his eyelashes and tipped his head back, hair soaking up drops. "Being just Joey is terrifically special, you're, like, the most amazing guy I ever met." He stripped the water out of his hair, pulling it over his shoulder; it reached well past his collarbone.

"That's *not* possible," said Joey, climbing in with him. "I know some of the guys you know. I'm pretty happy being me, Justin, but I know I'm nothing to write home about. Now *you*--" He looked Justin up and down, from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. "--are beautiful. I never thought I'd find someone like you."

"You are so somebody to write home about," Justin argued stubbornly, giving Joey the same head-to-toe glance right back. "I mean, if I wrote home, you would be. You're smart, and so sexy, and good to me, and beautiful, and talented...man. I'm the one who's lucky." He whacked Joey on the arm. "Course you didn't think you'd find someone like me. You didn't even know you WANTED someone like me till, like, five minutes ago!"

"You know what I mean," said Joey, smoothing his hand over Justin's hair. "I didn't even really know it was possible for me to feel like this. Everything that came before you... it was nothing like this. And I just didn't know, then, what I know now. I wish... I wish you *could* write home about me. I wish there was someone there for you."

"You know what I mean," said Joey, smoothing his hand over Justin's hair. "I didn't even really know it was possible for me to feel like this. Everything that came before you... it was nothing like this. And I just didn't know, then, what I know now. I wish... I wish you *could* write home about me. I wish there was someone there for you."

Justin lifted his chin proudly, though his mouth quivered a little. "I've got Chris and Lance and AJ and lots of others, I can write *them* about you. Only, they're right here, so that might kind of waste a stamp. But you know what I mean, they're my family now, not...not those other people that didn't want me. So I'm glad you found me too, because with me you get them, and they're great, just amazing." He reached for the shampoo. "Can you help me wash my hair? Swear to god, next week I'm chopping it off. All the way! Bald!"

"You know you're not," said Joey, and his voice was quiet. He could hardly even hear himself over the sound of the water. "You love your hair. Everyone loves your hair. You wouldn't want to lose that, baby." He leaned in close to Justin's neck and breathed. "You smell good now."

"Yeah?" Justin giggled, and angled his head away, giving Joey more neck to sniff. "It's amazing what a little soap and water will do, huh? Even make someone who stinks like me smell all nice." He scrubbed shampoo roughly through his hair, then paused, looking around worriedly. "Joey, do you have conditioner? Because if you don't, it's gonna get ugly up in here once this starts to dry. And then I really WILL cut it off. I love it, sure, but not as much as I hate it sometimes."

"Conditioner?" said Joey, baffled for a second. "Um, no, I don't-- oh wait! Well, if you don't mind using some stuff that one of my ex-girlfriends left behind a long time ago, there's probably something under the sink. Conditioner doesn't go bad, right?"

"Uh." Justin looked dubious. "I think it, um," he waved his hands around helplessly, "un-goopifies? Separates, or something, like, part gets watery and part gets chunky and after that I don't think it's so good any more. But maybe yours didn't do that yet, right? We can hope."

"Well, not a long long time ago. But, like, a year. I'm pretty sure that's still okay, right?" He hated to leave the warmth of Justin and the shower, but he dashed out for a moment and grabbed a dusty bottle from beneath the sink and brought it back with him. "This stuff. It smells kinda flowery, but it'll do, I hope."

"Sure," Justin said, not taking it from him, looking at it like it was a dead mouse. "Joey, that bottle has DUST on it. Like, dust bunnies, not just a little dust. Are you sure it's safe to put that stuff on my head? Because I have to tell you, anything happens to my hair that I didn't actually decide to do, I'm gonna be really upset."

"That's only cause it's been under the sink. Stuff gets like that under my sink after, like, a week. Let's rinse your hair out and see if it's green or something, okay? You can even put it on my head first, if you're that worried. But it's better than nothing, right? Better than shaving your head?"

"Uh-huh," Justin agreed, clearly unconvinced. "Well, I gotta get the shampoo out anyway." He dipped his head back under the stream, and rinsed his hair for what seemed like half an hour to Joey; he was starting to understand Justin's regular, if halfhearted, complaints about his hair. "Okay," Justin finally said, extending his hands. "Give me the stuff, man. It has to be better than the tangled frizzies, no matter what."

Joey handed over the bottle, now streaked with somewhat damper dust that he just couldn't quite get off. "Here," he said, making a face at the smell. It wasn't his favourite, but on Justin he would cope with it. "Go ahead, make yourself all pretty."

"What, I'm not pretty anyway?" Justin asked with a fake pout, pouring conditioner into his hands and looking at it fiercely, then setting his jaw and starting to work it through his hair. "Ugh, it smells like...something. Joey, how are you gonna be able to stay in the same room with me, I smell like this?" He rinsed immediately, then shook himself like a dog, holding his hair on top of his head. "Meh. Okay. Now you go, I've been hogging all the hot water."

"The flowery smell fades, I promise," said Joey, scrunching up his nose. "Believe me, I have a lot of experience with it. All too much. And it only takes me two seconds to do my hair, Justin. You can wash the rest of me if you want, though."

"Well, get under the water, then," Justin moved him around until he was directly under the spray. "Someday when I make a million dollars somehow, I'm going to get one of those showers with room for four, with all the different shower heads and things. Till then we have to take turns." He started soaping Joey up, brisk and efficient. "What are you gonna do when you make a million dollars as an actor?"

"There aren't a lot of people who make a million dollars as an actor, Justin." he admitted as he tilted his head back. "I'd be lucky to make a living. BUT, if I did... I don't know. I'd buy you some new clothes, how about. I'd buy myself new dishes. LIfetime supply of condoms."

"I can buy my own clothes," Justin said, his voice unexpectedly tight. "I'm getting by okay, you know, Joey, you don't gotta like take care of me or anything." He took his hands away from Joey's back. "And I already said sorry about the condom thing, you don't have to rub it in."

"Justin," laughed Joey, letting his hand slide around Justin's waist to get him back. "It's a game, baby, isn't it? What I'd do with a million dollars? I'd buy you presents, is what I mean, that's all. I'd buy you things you like."

Justin let himself be pulled close, though his back stayed a little stiff, like an outraged cat's. "You should buy YOU things you liked," he insisted. "Not me. I can take care of myself, you know. No matter what Chris and Lance say, I can."

"Justin, I believe you," said Joey, refusing to let go of him no matter how tense he was getting. "I think you're doing great for yourself, I think you can do anything you set your mind to. Whether it's singing, or playing basketball, or school, or anything. I believe in you."

Justin had been relaxing as Joey spoke, until he mentioned school, and then he went rigid in Joey's hold, glaring at Joey's shoulder. "Nobody can do everything," he said stiffly. "That's silly, but I *can* take care of myself. I'm just fine the way things are now." He inched away. "Things are...things are great now, I don't need anything I don't got right now, I'm doing fine. Fine."

"Justin," said Joey, starting to feel a little helpless, trying to keep him close but failing. "Justin, please. I don't know what I did to upset you, but I didn't want to. You can do anything that you want, I mean that. Is that a bad thing?"

Justin took in a deep breath and blew it out, stopped moving away. Rolled his shoulders a little, looking like he was forcing himself to relax. "It's not you," he finally said softly. "Don't...don't. I know better than to think I can do *anything*, that's just not the way life goes. But lots of things, yeah, definitely." He smiled a little, and it even touched his eyes. "It's not a bad thing. Just me being a freak."

"Anything," insisted Joey, smiling and moving his arms to get Justin closer to him again. "You're smart, Justin, and you're talented. And you're not afraid to work hard, I've seen that. I'll help you, you know, with anything you choose..."

"I've chosen, I chose the only thing I could," Justin said abruptly, then smiled again, his expression apologizing for his tone. "I think you might be a little biased," he murmured, leaning his body against Joey's. "But it's nice of you to say, anyway." He actually tugged Joey's arms more tightly around his waist, resting his chin on his shoulder. "I think you're definitely the brains of this outfit."

Joey frowned and wished Justin would stop saying things like that. But maybe not wasn't the right time to push the issue, when Justin was slippery and could get away easily. "I don't think I'm biased," he said, and he pulled Justin into a soft kiss. "I'm with you *because* you have so much potential, not in spite of it. You're wonderful."

"Not," Justin muttered, cuddling himself closer. "You're the wonderful one here, doofus. No arguing with me, remember? We talked about this." He tipped his head up, clearly requesting another kiss, which Joey gave him. "Are you gonna make me dinner? Or are we going to go out? Or something? Because I still owe you dinner, I think."

"You don't ever have to cook for me," insisted Joey. "Or buy dinner for me. I did that because I wanted to. I cook because I want to. Though I think it's very cool that you want to learn stuff like that. I... oh, are you saying you want to go out tonight? I'm sorry... I don't pick up that stuff sometimes."

"Nah, no. I just didn't want you to be all slavin' away over a hot stove to fill me up," Justin said, giggling a little and ducking his head. "If you try to feed me whenever I'm hungry, you won't ever do anything else, and man, you'd get bored fast." He hung his chin on Joey's shoulder again, letting Joey take most of his weight. "I need to rest my ass anyway. Show tomorrow, ugh, so tonight's for all resting."

Joey ran his hand carefully over Justin's ass. "That's a real good idea," he said. "I'm clean now, baby, you want to get out? I don't mind feeding you all the time. Better you than me, right? And I've missed it, anyway. Doing it for someone else."

"You'll mind once you see how much I eat," Justin muttered direly, unwinding himself from Joey and stretching again. "But I won't say no, if you want to. It'll be nice, kind of like...I dunno. Homey, or something." He grabbed the soap again, though, and washed off briskly one more time. "There, clean now. I can't believe how much hot water you got here. Mine would have gone cold like ten minutes ago."

"It's a good building," said Joey with a shrug. "I could shower for a couple hours and never run out. Not that I've actually ever tried that out, but I'm pretty sure I could, if I really wanted to. I'd rather share to conserve water, though, if you know what I mean." And he gave Justin another kiss, glad to see he'd relaxed again. For the moment. But Joey couldn't help but have the feeling he was still walking on eggshells here.

Justin nodded, solemnity denied by the twinkle in his eyes. "Conserving water's a good thing," he agreed. "You never know when we'll have another drought, after all." He slid closer for a long, lingering, wet kiss, before wiggling loose and stepping out of the tub, reaching for towels. The scrape on his hip looked better, if still raw, and he patted it gingerly. "Man, the customers better not get grabby tomorrow, is all I'm sayin'." He frowned a little.

"The customers better not get grabby *any*way," said Joey right away, surprising himself a little. He wasn't really a possessive guy, not like that. But Justin was more vulnerable than he let on, and he got Joey's protective instinct going. "You doing okay? Is it feeling better?"

Justin shrugged. "Gonna have a bruise," he murmured, twisting around and trying to look at it over his shoulder, sighing. "Not exactly pretty, huh? Guess it's the price you gotta pay for a good game." He gave his chest one last swipe with the towel, and stood waiting for Joey to be finished, wrapping another towel around his hair like a turban. "Someone always gets grabby, Joey. It's part of the job, y'know?"

Joey sighed and touched the scrape again, gently. "I know," he said after a moment. He knew what it was like to be one of the ones wanting to do the grabbing. "And I accept it. Doesn't mean I have to like it, though. So I'm guessing it's time for food, now?" Food seemed like a safe offer.

"Food." Justin lit up, the lingering tension on his face finally disappearing. "Oh, hell yeah. Feed me, feed me, for sure. Um, and I should call AJ, so he doesn't think I'm dead on the side of the road somewhere. And Chris, too, because we won, and stuff. Can I use your phone?"

"Of course you can," Joey said, surprised. "Justin, I want you to be comfortable here, you can do what you like. I mean, don't tear up the furniture or anything, but other than that..." Justin *didn't* look all that comfortable, though. Some things, yes, but not everything.

"I promise not to tear up the furniture," Justin answered, folding the towel precisely in thirds before hanging it, and then doing the same with Joey's. "Thanks, for letting me use the phone. I'm just gonna-" he waved his hand at the door, and hurried out, swinging through the living room to collect his bag. By the time Joey followed, he was dressed in clean shorts and another tank top, this one tight and pale blue.

"What, I don't get to enjoy the view anymore?" teased Joey, hoping to see Justin's smile again. It had been a little while. "If you want some privacy, I'll be in the kitchen, trying to find something to appease that ravenous beast in your stomach. Yeah?"

"If I'm naked all the time, you might stop looking," Justin confessed, his cheeks flushing pink. "I mean. Anyway, I don't need privacy or nothing, but food's great. Don't go to any trouble, though, okay? Whatever you've got'll be great, I'll eat anything, I swear. Thanks, Joey."

"Well, bring the phone on into the kitchen, then," said Joey encouragingly. "I wouldn't mind the company. And how many times do I have to tell you, Justin, that cooking is *no* trouble for me at all, It relaxes me, even. The more complicated the better. So... anything you got your heart set on? I bet I can do it."

"Nope, really, whatever," Justin said, trailing behind him, shy again. Acting like a guest. "I honestly WILL eat whatever, you should make whatever you feel like eating. I'll just watch, and stuff. Or I could set the table! I can do that, I used to do it at- before. After I call AJ, I mean, and Chris, I could, if you tell me where stuff is."

"Sure, Justin, that would be nice," said Joey, only a little awkwardly. "If you want, you know. You don't really have to do anything, if you don't want. Or I could teach you stuff again, about cooking. Or... I don't know," he admitted. "It would help me, if I knew what you wanted. I'm nervous, you know."

Justin blinked at him. "You? Why? I mean, you know how to cook already, right?" He chuckled a little, sounding nervous himself. "I think you just about taught me everything I'm gonna learn, with the eggs, before. I really do want to watch, though. And honest, Joey, I don't know what I want to eat. Anything, I swear, anything will be good. Even peanut butter sandwiches, or whatever. I'm just really hungry, is all."

"I didn't mean about the food," said Joey softly. "I mean, in general, I'm nervous. You know that, Justin. I'm still not sure what I'm doing, in the middle of all of this. The cooking, *that* I'm never nervous about. So yeah, I should go do that now. Good idea."

"Okay." Justin looked relieved. "Okay, you do that, and I'll call Chris, and then I'll watch you." He picked up the phone and fidgeted with it a little, before dialing a number and turning away, head ducked, still in its towel turban. It would have looked completely ridiculous if there hadn't been one long corkscrew of hair trailing down Justin's neck, still dark with water and reminding Joey of what Justin was hiding under the terrycloth.

"Sexy," he whispered, only realizing he said it aloud when Justin looked back over his shoulder at him. "I mean... I'm gonna cook now," he said, and turned and opened the fridge, peering inside at what was available. Justin said he would eat anything, but Joey kind of wanted to impress him anyway.

"Hey, Chris!" Joey could hear the bubble of excitement in Justin's voice, and when he looked, Justin was grinning hugely. "We won! I got picked for the first game...yeah...no, he wasn't there...but Joey came!" He paused, listening. "Scraped my ass. No, it's fine. Lance didn't even fuss, really." He turned away, and his voice lowered again. "I'm at Joey's." There was a long, listening silence, and Justin was nodding, then went still. "Chris, I'm...I'm not. It's fine. Joey's making dinner. I just wanted to...yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. I love you too. See you tomorrow." He hung up, and leaned against the counter, watching Joey cut tomatoes.

"So what did Chris have to say?" asked Joey, looking over his shoulder and trying not to sound as curious as he was. Since Chris had obviously had something to say about *him*. "Everything good?"

"He's a freak," Justin said, sounding a little sulky, a little nervous. "That's not really news, though. He says hi, and that you should call him later. Probably wants to gossip with you about what a mess I am or something. I think he likes you better'n he likes me, these days, I swear."

"No, he probably wants to lecture me about how to treat you right. Again," insisted Joey, reaching for the onion. "If you think you're gonna cry, back up."

"He's spending way too much time thinking about us," Justin declared. "Cause all he does is tell ME not to mess up. He's not gonna lecture you again, you're not the one who's all fucked up." He didn't move away from the onions, and his eyes started to water again, though he kept them wide open defiantly. "I'm sorry I'm all fucked up, you know. Your first boyfriend should be someone...not."

"Justin, baby," said Joey, stopping chopping for a moment but not touching him, not with onion juice on his hands. "You're not all fucked up, okay? You're not. And if you think you are... I don't know what to say. Just that everyone has their issues, I guess. Doesn't mean you're all fucked up."

Justin just shrugged in reply to that, clearly uncomfortable. "I'm not...there are plenty more fucked up people than me, sure. But you...deserve someone easy. Who's not gonna go all freaky on you and, like, try to clean your bathroom at three am or something because he's having some wierd nervous breakdown." Justin's cheeks were red, and it was definitely hard for him to talk about this. "But whatever, whatever. What are you making?"

"Sauce. For the pasta. But it'll take a little while so I got out a box of crackers for you in the meantime. And Justin--" Joey held his hand up but still didn't touch him. "You're not that fucked up. And if you think I'm a good guy, then I deserve to get what I want, right? And what i want is you."

Justin stared at him hard, like he was trying to see inside Joey's head, and then nodded once, abruptly. Leaned in and gave him a quick soft kiss. "I want is you too. So you can have what you want, and that's good for everyone." He finally smiled a little, too, as he started to unwind the turban. "Just remember you said that when I'm yelling about wire hangers or whatever, okay?"

"If that's what you need to do, that's what you need to do," said Joey, but he was wondering how serious Justin was being, how likely it was he was going to break down like that. From the way he was talking, it was like it was a regular occurrence. "HOnestly, Justin. I really like you."

"I really like you too," Justin answered happily, shaking out his curls into damp strands around his face and shoulders. "I just...I can't really believe I'm here, you know? With my amazing boyfriend who's cooking me dinner. That's just not something I ever saw happening to me." He edged closer to Joey, finally seeming to soften that edge of nerviness he'd had since the shower.

"How could you not see that happening to you, Justin?" he asked honestly. "You're so wonderful, and you're so *young*, and ... it's what you want, right? I'm not so sure I'm an *amazing* boyfriend or anything, but I seem to be doing all right."

"You're doing just right," Justin assured him. "I mean. I keep pinching myself, see?" He held out an arm, and pinched the skin with the other hand. "Things like this don't happen to me, much, is all. And I'm *not* whining, honest. It's just. Chris, and the guys, and the club..." he shrugged. "I guess I figured I'd used up all my good things this year already."

"Justin, you don't run out of good things," said Joey, wiping his hands off on a towel. "I don't... I only know a very little bit about what your life was like before you came here, Justin, but I promise you that good things aren't finite. They can keep happening, and seems to me that you deserve them."

"Threes," Justin said tensely, moving around behind Joey and leaning against his back, as if he couldn't talk about this and look at Joey at the same time. "The good things usually come in threes, and the bad things come in fives, so far. So, three good things and then I have to wait for the next set, and I'm already over my limit, WAY over, since you're like fifteen good things all wrapped up into one."

"I doesn't work like that," Joey insisted. "Justin, it doesn't *work* like that. I'm sorry, so sorry, that so many bad things have happened to you before, but you're with me now and I'm going to try to make sure that stuff like that doesn't happen to you anymore."

Justin sighed, all up and down Joey's back, and didn't argue with him, settling his hands on Joey's waist and leaning his cheek against the top of Joey's shoulder. "Thanks," he murmured. "I mean, look at me, all drama and shit, like my life's so bad, and I've got great friends and a bed and jobs and you. Someone should smack me."

"No, someone should *not* smack you," said Joey, turning around in his arms. "Someone should kiss you." And he did. "You know, one day, one of these days, you and me, we'll be ready to talk about all this stuff. You know? We'll be ready someday."

Justin pursed his lips. "Someday," he agreed cautiously. "Not today, though, okay?" He kissed Joey back, little closed-mouth kisses. "And you let me distract you from that good-smelling stuff you're making, which is all kinds of wrong. You should get back to that, and then we can...watch a movie, or something. Something like what boyfriends do?"

"Not today," Joey agreed. It was enough of a concession that Justin said someday, and Joey didn't really feel like he was up to it yet either. Though if Justin ever wanted to start talking, he sure as hell wasn't going to stop him. "And it doesn't smell delicious yet, it's just getting started. You sure you don't want some of those crackers? This is gonna take a while, I'm not kidding. But it'll be worth it."

Justin grabbed an eager handful of the crackers, munching on them like he hadn't eaten in a week. "Nds penbudder," he mumbled around crumbs, stepping away from Joey to fish in the fridge for a soda. "It smells delicious in my head already," he continued, once his mouth was clear. "I mean, there's garlic happening somewhere, I can tell. You should probably hurry."

"You don't hurry pasta sauce," said Joey, affecting a shocked look like his mother would have given. "Don't worry, though, I won't make you wait until tomorrow like mama might've. There's some in the cupboard, by the way. If you want. Peanut butter, not my mother."

"Tomorrow!" Justin sounded *genuinely* shocked. "What takes overnight to make? Holy cow, I'd never last that long." He stole a piece of tomato, and edged out of the way. "Is there going to be sausage in this, too? Or meatballs? I think I need protein. Or maybe cheese." He looked thoughtful.

"I don't have any sausage," said Joey, "and if you want meatballs, it's going to take even longer. I can, if you want, though. I don't mind. You are a growing boy, after all. Wouldn't want you all weak and anemic next time you have to play basketball or anything." Timbatonal signed off at 8:04:48 PM. Timbatonal signed on at 8:04:52 PM.

"Nothing that's going to take longer," Justin said hastily, shaking his head. "I'm kind of hungry right now. Some other time, maybe." He rested a hip against the counter. "Um. Who's gonna be at the party on Wednesday? Can you tell me a little bit about them, just so, y'know, I'm not freaking out quite as much?" Timbatonal direct connection is closed.

"Oh, sure," said Joey immediately, and cursed himself that he hadn't already done that for him. He knew that Justin was nervous about this. "Well, I told you about Kevin, right?" Chop and talk, he couldn't forget about making dinner. He was afraid he was going to start hearing Justin's stomach soon. "And his wife? I think you'll like them, Justin."

"I thought you said they weren't married yet? Should I call her Mrs. Kevin?" It would have seemed like sarcasm if Justin hadn't been so earnest. "You told me, he's your old roommate, he's an actor. He, he was okay, hearing about me. Us. Right? And she'll be okay too?"

"Kristin," said Joey, chuckling a little. "And she'll probably belt you if you call her Mrs. Kevin. You could call him Mr. Kristin, though, I think you could get away with that. Um, not that you'd try. She's an actor, too. And a terrible cook, did I warn you about that? And yeah, he was okay hearing about you, Justin, I promise. Surprised, but definitely okay."

"Okay." Justin took a deep breath. "Who else? You said there were gonna be other people there. Do you know them? Are they all your friends?" His hands were twisting together lightly, as he watched Joey chop the vegetables. "What are they gonna want to talk about, do you think?"

"They're probably going to be real curious about you," Joey confessed to him as he started stewing the tomatoes while he chopped peppers. "Just so you know. And it's cool to tell them whatever, Justin, whatever you want to. I'm not gonna ask you not to tell them anything. And... yeah, there's gonna be this other guy there, too. JC. I don't know him, though."

"Don't put too many peppers in?" Justin requested, still fidgeting. "Oh, man. They're gonna be curious and there'll be someone there you don't even know? I dunno, Joey. You won't let me be stupid, will you? Like, if I am, you have to kick me. Maybe Justine *can* go instead of me. I could like take a valium first or something."

"Justin, baby, just be yourself," said Joey, putting just enough peppers in that it would taste right and have *some* nutritional value. "If that means going as Justine... well, that's your choice. I won't stop you. But I promise you, it's not going to be a scary thing, any more than *I'm* a scary thing."

"You were pretty scary at first," Jutsin confessed disarmingly. "Still are sometimes when I stop to think about it. And that makes it MORE scary...they're people you like, and they've known you ages longer than me, and I just...I don't want them to hate me. I don't know. Justin would probably have a better time, but I'm pretty sure it would be better if I just went."

"Why do you think they would hate you?" asked Joey. "Why do you think *any*one would hate you, Justin?"

"Well," Justin blinked at him, clearly a little confused. "I mean. I don't, I'm not, I'm just some trashy drag queen, Joey. Why wouldn't they? I mean, they wouldn't, probably, they sound really nice and everything." He sighed. "I'm gonna think positive, like Chris says. It'll be okay, right? I won't, like, snort up water on my plate or anything."

"You know, there are a lot of people who don't just, like, automatically hate people, just because of who they are. Would I really be friends with someone who would, Justin? You have nothing to worry about. Even if you do something dumb, even if *I* do something dumb -- and I probably will -- it'll be fine."

"Okay," Justin said meekly. "I did say they sounded really nice, right? I just really...I want them to like me. Not just not-hate me. You know?" He sneaked a mushroom away from Joey. "As long as I don't do anything TOO dumb. How long did you say this is gonna take, again?"

Joey sighed and gave him a grin. "Less than an hour," he promised him. "My mother would be appalled, but I'll do as little stewing as I can get away with. There's fruit in the fridge, too, if you're sick of the crackers. It's good for you. And Justin... everyone I've met likes you. Even Nick. You really don't have to worry so much."

"Nick?" Justin, halfway to the fridge, stopped, puzzled. "Who's Nick? Do I know a Nick?" He scratched his nose, thinking.

"Oh!" said Joey. "Nick Carter? He said you guys don't know each other well, though. I met him at work today. Which reminds me, we're supposed to go hear him play some time."

"Oh, tall blond? Pretty eyes?" Justin nodded. "I remember him, yeah. He's in a band? Excellent! I love going to shows." He eyed Joey sideways. "Did he, ah, mention how we know each other? By any chance?"

Joey thought about how to answer that for a moment, then decided just to be upfront. "If you're asking if I know you guys slept together? Yeah, he said. So we'll have to figure out what show we can make it to. And he said Chris, too, and I said Chris wouldn't go without Lance, but what do I know, right?"

"No, you were right," Justin assured him hastily. "Chris doesn't do much without Lance, I mean, after working hours and everything. They're pretty much a matched set. But I definitely wanna go, and Lance will too, so it'll be everyone. Maybe I can bring AJ, too. He loves rock shows. That'll be great. It was only the once, me and him. It's not like there was a thing, or anything. Just so you know."

"I know you're with me," said Joey. "Now, I mean. So even if you guys were a thing, it would've been fine. Just so *you* know. And hey, does that mean I'd finally get to meet AJ? That would be cool. Do you like a lot of garlic? I can put more in..."

"I love garlic," Justin said, smiling a little, finally. "Yeah, you can meet AJ. He's not really much of a hider, he's just been busy, you know? That new club opening, they want him all the time. But I bet he'll skip for a show. He said he might come to MY show sometime this week, he got me a new dress and wants to see it in action. He said. So, yeah, you'll meet him."

"He sounds like he looks out for you," said Joey, relaxing as the conversation continued along smoothly. "Everyone seems like they look out for you, Justin. That's a good thing."

Justin shrugged. "Guess so. Guess they got in the habit, before." His chin firmed stubbornly. "They're just not used to it, that I can take good care of myself, now. It's okay, they're good friends. AJ's a good roommate, too, he deals with me really well. And I don't care when he comes in super late, or brings home a trick, or whatever. It's good."

Joey snorted as he stirred his sauce and reached for a can of tomato paste from the cupboard. "I'm not sure if he would appreciate you calling his boyfriends, one-night-stands, whatevers, tricks. Or hell, maybe he would, I don't know him. Yet."

"No, no," Justin said earnestly. "Tricks aren't people that pay. Well, sometimes they are. It's just an easier way of saying one night stand, kind of. If you're talking to a hustler and he says "trick," it's totally different than if you're talking to your buddy who doesn't get paid for blowjobs. AJ would TOTALLY mind if someone thought that, so, yeah."

"Okay, okay, that's what I figured," said Joey. "I just... not a phrase I've used before, in my circles. Anyway, so yeah. Should be a fun night, I think. Nick seems like a cool guy."

"I guess," Justin shrugged. "Didn't talk to him much, really. But a band, that's really cool. Good for him. We should totally go." He wandered around the kitchen, poking at things, peering into drawers, generally seeming to relax as long as he could move. "This is a really well-organized kitchen, Joey."

"Yeah, I like it that way," said Joey, shifting his weight and trying to get a feel for the conversation again. He wished he was better at reading Justin. "I did tell you I work in the music business, right? Kinda? So I guess he's in a pretty *good* band."

"Really?" Justin looked at him curiously. "Like, a band that's gonna make it big? Wow, and we can say we knew him when. Is he at...does he work with you or something? Is that how you guys met?"

"Oh, well, not exactly," said Joey. The sauce was coming together. He could start the pasta soon. "He came by for a meeting with my boss. I mean... I'm a receptionist, basically, Justin. They ask for my opinion, sometimes, on stuff, because I'm "young and hip" or whatever, but mostly I just answer phones and make appointments. But yeah, if he's signing with my boss, then he might make it big."

"He'll be a star," Justin said, sounding a little dreamy. "That's the bigtime. Wow, that's really, really great for him. He didn't seem like someone who'd be all an asshole about it, either, once he makes it big. Though you never know." He poked Joey teasingly with a finger. "When you're a big star, promise you won't forget us little people?"

"If I ever -- and this is *way* unlikely, Justin -- but if I *ever* become a star, even a little one, you'll be right there with me. I think you're more star quality than me, though. You've got stage presence most people only dream of. You can taste this now if you want, tell me what you think?"

"Nah, that's Justine," Justin said, still blushing a little at the compliment as he obediently opened his mouth for Joey to slip the spoon in. His eyes opened wide as he tasted, and he smiled. "Oh my god, Joey, that's amazing! It doesn't taste anything like the stuff we get out of the cans from the food bank. Wow. There better be a lot of that. You're, wow, you can really cook!"

Joey blinked in surprise a couple times at that, then just said "Thanks," and put a few more spices in. "I'll cook for you any time, Justin. If there's one thing I always have a lot of in this house, it's food. Not much else, but always food. Food enough for a growing boyfriend. Is it salty enough?"

"Almost," Justin nodded, grinning at him. "If there's one thing *I* always have, it's an appetite. So anytime you want to cook, I'll be your guinea pig. This tastes really good." He hovered over Joey's arm, peering into the pot, generally getting in the way. "What are we gonna put it on?"

"Pasta," said Joey, turning to give Justin a big smile. He look just so bright, so sweet, so curious. It was absolutely endearing, almost made Joey forget about everything else that was going on. "Dry pasta, sorry, I don't have any fresh in the house right now and I don't think you're going to be willing to wait for me to make some. Any particular kind you like? I got a big variety in the cupboard, always do."

"Joey, like I could tell the difference between dry and fresh," Justin laughed. "I promise I don't mind. And you can use whatever kind you want, especially if you want to use the tubes. You know, the medium ones with the ridges that hold all the sauce really well? I like those. If you don't have 'em, though, regular spaghetti's always good."

"The medium tubes with the ridges it is," said Joey, and chuckled to himself. His mom was going to want to take this boy under her wing and train him right. Once Joey told her everything, anyway. "Can you grab me a pot? That one right there." He point right at it, just to be sure.

"Oh, yeah, of course." Justin grabbed it, peered inside, and frowned a little. "There's dust or something, hang on, I'll wash it." Joey watched, still amused, as Justin scrubbed the pot out energetically in the sink, handing it over with a flourish when he was done. "One pot, there you go. Should I set the table, maybe? Or...where do you eat, usually?"

Joey usually ate in front of the television, when he was alone, but this was different. "Sure, you can set the table if you want. Do you remember where my dishes are? And. Um. Don't worry if they don't match. My cooking utensils may be immaculate but my eating utensils are a little more haphazard. Do you... are you enjoying this?"

Justin didn't answer right away with a pat affirmative, cocking his head and thinking it over first. "I think...yes," he said finally, smiling. "I'm not used to it at all, but it's really nice. I like just...hanging out, not having to be anywhere or do anything. You're good company." He lifted down two plates. "I haven't had a homecooked meal in a really long time. It's nice."

"Okay, so cooking's not really exciting stuff," admitted Joey with a chuckle. "I still love it. And you look... you look real happy, Justin. I'm really glad you're here with me. And I plan to stuff you full of as many home-cooked meals as you'll let me."

"Great," Justin said, with a grin. "I'll get huge and fat, and not be able to work, and you'll have to support me and keep me fed all the time." He set the plates and silverware precisely on the table, careful to line everything up, before coming over and leaning against Joey's side again. "I am happy," he said softly. "Thank you."

"The way you work out playing ball, I don't think you'll *ever* get fat," insisted Joey, biting his lip and keeping things lighter for a moment longer.. "And if you do, at least you'll have a little padding next time you take a spill." But then Justin's closeness, his softness got the best of him, and he leaned in and kissed him. "I would support you, though. I'll never need to, but I would."

"Of course you won't," Justin said, eyes down. "Need to, I mean. 'Cause I'm gonna be just fine, no matter what my--people say. I'm an adult now, right?" He shook his head, and when he looked back up at Joey his eyes were twinkling. "Anyway, if I wanted a sugar daddy I'd get one a whole lot richer than you, man." He leaned in and gave Joey a teasing kiss.

Joey laughed and relaxed again, and returned the kiss. "Yeah, I'm not much good as a sugar daddy," he admitted. "What with my closet and my, you know, lack of money and success and stuff. But I'll treat you like gold anyway."

"You already do." Justin kissed him back, sliding a hand up his arm to his shoulder. "I mean, it's not everybody who'll make homemade spaghetti sauce for a totally unexpected guest all sudden like this." He smiled at Joey, a real warm smile. "I don't need a sugar daddy."

"No, you don't," said Joey confidently, because it seemed to be what Justin needed to hear. "And I wouldn't call you an unexpected guest. You're my boyfriend, you belong here with me."

(I think we did have it planned out, but it was pretty loose. hee. hmmm, well. I was thinking Justin might have at least a little diva fit before the party, since that would introduce a whole new level of tension for Joey at the dinner...fun for the whole family! *grin*)

"Okay, I'm your unexpected boyfriend," Justin said agreeably. "You still didn't expect to be cooking for me. I like this system, where you like cooking and I like eating. It works really well, I think. And now I'm gonna get out of your way, because I think that's about to boil over. Or something."

"Oops!" said Joey, and nearly kicked himself for not paying enough attention to it. "Okay, I'm on top of it. You just... get comfortable. And let me pamper you a litlte, Justin. You've earned it."

Joey could almost see the struggle between "yes, pamper me" and "no, I don't need taking care of!" on Justin's face, made all the clearer by their conversation. Finally, Justin smiled a little and shrugged, stepping away from the stovetop and heading for the table. "Okay," he said simply. "But you've got to let me pamper you back." He sat very gingerly on one of the wooden chairs, watching Joey deal with the pot.

"Sure I'll let you, when I'm the one whose ass is all scraped up," said Joey, taking the safe road on that one. "Okay, dinner is served in two minutes. Be hungry. As long as you keep being hungry and I keep cooking, everything *will* go fine." And as far as Joey was concerned, everything *was* going fine, better every moment, with so much still to look forward to.

* * *

Joey was already running late by the time he pushed through the doors at Barney's--that last meeting with the blues singer had gone hours longer than he'd expected. It wasn't crowded yet, but there were definitely people starting to filter in fron outside, and the bartender was already hopping. There was no sign of Justin or any of the others in the main room, so he headed straight back to backstage, hoping no one would stop him.

He certainly wasn't used to doing something like this yet, but he'd been told that he was welcome backstage always, and so he was taking them up on that and hoping the offer had been genuine. "Hello?" he said, though, as he just poked his head inside. "Anyone here?"

"Hi, Joey," Howie sighed from one of the makeup chairs. And it WAS Howie, in jeans and a snug tank top, not Bliss. "Welcome to the war zone. Are you sure you don't want to just sneak out and pretend you never came here tonight?"

Joey didn't exactly see anything happening. Actually, right at the moment it seemed eerily quiet. A lot like the eye of a hurricane, and Joey suddenly worried that that was the first thing that came to mind. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Honey, what *isn't* going on?" Howie propped his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands. "Lalo and Chris had a screaming fight, and Chris stormed out. Two out of three of the microphones were under the leak in the roof during the rain last night, and don't work. Justine broke a heel on her pumps and twisted her ankle during warmups, and her dress doesn't fit. Frankly, I'm afraid to get dressed. This place is cursed tonight."

"Where is sh-- where is he?" asked Joey, looking around again. "Where are they? Where is everyone? Or... do I even want to know. Is Justin okay? Where did Chris go? Why are they fighting?"

Howie held up a finger. "Justine is with AJ two doors down, getting medicated and refitted. None of the rest of us are going *near* there, believe me. Lalo's in the ladies' room, crying her eyes out, and I have no idea what that little queenfest was all about. I also have no idea where dear Christopher went, but I imagine it involves alcohol and is somewhere far from here. And I, darling, am staying right here." He sighed again.

"Ooookay," said Joey awkwardly. "So... what should I do, then?" He honestly couldn't figure out where the hell he should be and who the hell he should be with? Lance? Justin? He knew where he *wanted* to be, he just didn't know where he *should* be.

Howie's finely shaped eyebrows arched. "Don't ask me, honey. I'd let Lalo cry it out, though, she's not much of one for comfort, at least till she's broken a few things. Then of course, there's the terror of Lady Justine in a temper. You're welcome to hide here with me, if you like. Not that everyone won't end up back here, but I'd sort of hoping they'll have calmed down by the time they do."

"I don't think I can..." Joey looked around the room again, then back at Howie. "I can't do nothing." he said. "Point me towards Justin? Um... Justine? And I'll just take it from there."

"Your funeral," Howie shrugged, and waved his hand to the left. "Down the hall, second door. And Joey, baby, that is *definitely* Justine." He shook his head and muttered something that sounded like "poor lamb," but Joey couldn't be sure. "And Joey?" he added more loudly. "Don't forget to duck. She's got quite an arm on her."

Joey raised his eyebrows, but didn't comment on that. He'd seen Justin play basketball, but he'd also seen him curl his body around Joey's when they were together in the kitchen. He knew him. "Thanks Howie," he said, and headed toward the door he'd indicated. He thought about knocking, then just turned the handle and it was open.

It was quiet in the room, but not a comfortable quiet. He could see Justine's back, bare in a frame of pale green silk, and just barely visible around his skirt was a man on his knees, mouth full of pins, grim-faced. Justine's hands were knotted in fists by her sides.

"It's GOT to be SHORTER," Justin's voice hissed. "I don't have SHOES, fuck! Make it shorter!" Before the guy--AJ, Joey assumed, he hadn't even really looked at him--could reply, Justin's head swung and she glared at the door over her shoulder. "I said no-oh. Joey."

"Um, hi," he said hesitantly, slipping further into the room. It seemed tense, but okay. "I just got here, Howie told me where to find you. Everything okay? You look good."

"Don't you lie to me too," she snarled, taking him entirely by surprise, and trying to turn. AJ slapped her thigh warningly, spitting out the pins.

"Don't move, you dozy bitch, or I'll stick you with a pin, and my eardrums don't need that shit tonight."

"Fuck you and the cock you rode in on," Justine spat at him, but went still, twitching. "FUCK! This fucking day." She took a deep breath and clearly forced herself to calm a little. "My ankle is KILLING me."

"Give the pills a minute," AJ muttered, back to pinning. "Who's this?" He glanced at Joey, clearly not expecting Justin to respond.

Joey waved from the doorway and started to take Howie's warning a little more seriously. "Hi, I'm Joey," he said, closing the door behind him and staying on the inside. "I'm... with her. Anything I can do to help? Justin?"

"Run far, run fast," AJ said dryly, and easily dodged a nasty-looking kick. "And don't suggest cancelling the show."

"My name is *Justine*," she said frostily, though the volume was a lot lower than it had been before. "Joey, water? Those pills make my mouth all dry. There's a sink right over there." she waved a hand at the corner. "Goddamnit, AJ, aren't you done yet?"

*That* certainly made Joey's back stiffen. "Are you sure you want me to be bringing you a glass of water?" he said, before he could stop and think about it. "My mama taught me that the fastest way to stop a temper tantrum is to throw a glass of water in someone's face." He didn't have to see Justin's -- no, Justin's -- expression to know he shouldn't have done that; he knew the moment the words left his mouth. "Ah, shit," he muttered, and looked down at his feet.

"Sweet motherfucker," he heard AJ mumble disbelievingly, before Justine was spinning to face him, her cheeks alarmingly red and eyes slits.

"Your mama? YOUR MAMA? TEMPER TANTRUM?" Justine's voice rose on each word, until she was practically screeching. "I'd like to see you fucking try it! Just try it! You know what my mama taught me? How to dodge shit being THROWN at my HEAD! So FUCK YOU!" She blew by Joey in a whirlwind of tangled hair and skirts, shoving him out of the way and slamming the door behind her.

There was a stunned silence for a long moment, AJ and Joey staring at each other. "Before you freak out too bad," AJ finally offered, sounding remarkably calm, "you should probably know he tried to call home today. Something about high school transcripts. It didn't go real well."

Joey swore softly to himself again and looked back down at his feet. "Well, good to know," he said, louder, finally. "Wish Howie had known. Might've saved me some trouble here. Maybe I should just get out of here, man. Doesn't look like I'm gonna be doing anyone any good."

"Eh, you never know," AJ shrugged and got to his feet gracefully. "He was bound to blow up at something, and at least now he's got it out of his system. If history's anything to go by, now that that's over with it'll pass pretty quick. Big storm, explosion, then peace. And he'll be a complete wreck if you leave now, before he has a chance to apologize. Seriously."

"Shit," said Joey, and wondered how many more times he was going to find himself saying that before the night was over. "I may be the one that owes him an apology. I should've just... I don't know what. Something else. That just wasn't Justin. Do you think I should go after him? Her?"

"Oh, no, no," AJ shook his head. "Nope. And you don't owe her--HER--an apology, believe me. 'Tine in a bitch fit is nobody's fault but her own. Granted, it was a shitty day, with that phone call and her ankle and then her mommy and daddy having some big fight, but she can't just go around screaming at people like that. She'll be back in a little while to get the dress fixed, at least."

"Are you sure?" asked Joey, staring at the door for a moment. "I don't much like not doing anything to make this better. I'm supposed to be her boyfriend. Well, *his* boyfriend. I don't know about her. I don't know *anything* about her."

"I'm sure," AJ said, before strolling to his side and holding out his hand, lean and covered with rings, complete with black nailpolish. "AJ McLean, roommate to the diva. Pleased to meet you. And you must be the reason little Justin's been completely off the walls this last week or so. I'm completely unsurprised by this, just so you know. Justin gets stressed, Justine flips out, it's pretty standard. You'll learn the drill soon, if you make it that long."

Joey frowned a little, even as he took AJ's hand. "I don't want to be something that stresses him out," he said, even though he understood that there was a lot more to it. "This should be something good. I should be something that makes things better... been trying to, anyway. And hey, nice to finally meet you."

"Likewise," AJ drawled, not sounding particularly sincere about it. "Everything stresses Justin out, man. Don't take it too personally, the kid's just high-strung. If it makes you feel any better, I don't think a fit of this level would've happened without that phone call. Whateverthefuck put it in his head to call his parents, I don't know. Not your fault."

"Oh hell," Joey blurted out, suddenly realizing what Justin had been doing. "Of fuck. Damn, AJ, it *is* my fault."

"Huh?" AJ shook his head. "No, man, I just got through telling you, he called his folks, first time in a year. You weren't even there."

"No, it's my fault," Joey insisted with a heavy sigh. "I... fuck, I didn't know he was going to go and do this without me. I didn't mean for him to... damn. That stubborn, beautiful, little..."

"Drama princess? Raving psycho?" AJ suggested helpfully. "Well, if calling home was your idea, I can't say it was a terriffic one. But man, you gotta realize this ain't all that unusual for her. She's got bad days, things happen, she freaks." He shrugged minimally and lit a cigarette. "It'll pass, it always does. Usually Chris would be around waiting for her to come back, but it's probably better it's you. Just don't let her push you around, okay? She'll push till she gets pushed back at. That temper tantrum comment was platinum, man, very choice."

Joey snorted and smiled a little bit. "It was instinct, man. I'm not sure I can always trust my instincts, but they've been working so far. But no, man, no, I would never tell him to call home. He hasn't even really told me what went on there, really, yet. But... okay, fuck. See. That thing about the transcripts? I told him I'd help him if he wanted to finish school. It came up a couple times. So... that's why. He wouldn't have called otherwise, I don't think."

AJ's eyebrows lifted, but he didn't speak for a long moment. "Well, hell," he finally answered mildly. "Now we'll never get the kid back in. And don't go blaming yourself, either, that's just fucked up. Kid should be able to call his parents without having to throw up for an hour after." He tossed his butt on the ground and stamped it viciously with a steel-toed boot. "Little asshole. He could have just called the school for the transcripts. Poor dumb little mutt." He sighed.

"I didn't know he was going to try it without me there," Joey said, his throat feeling a little thick. "I never dreamed he would... fuck. Cause it's so important to him, you know? He doesn't say, but you just know. Do you know what school he went to?"

"He's got a yearbook in his stuff. Corcoran, maybe? I think that's the name." AJ scrubbed at his face with his fingers, tiredly. "He probably didn't want you to know, in case something just like this happened. Justin hates having people watch him mess up, or fail at something, it's like his biggest paranoia. Anyway, he-" He broke off when the door swung gently open.

Justin stepped inside silently, head down and face hidden behind a curtain of hair, shoulders slumped, and closed the door behind himself, sliding down the wall until he was sitting on the floor with his forehead on his knees.

"Thanks," said Joey quickly to AJ. He was going to find that yearbook, and he was going to call the school, and he was going to make sure Justin still had choices. For right now, though, it took him all of five seconds to get to Justin's side, to kneel down next to him, or her, or whatever. "Hey, baby," he said gently, and waited.

"Joey," Justin said, voice small and choked, never moving or looking up. "Oh my god. I am so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Please don't...I'm so sorry, Joey, and I'm still so fucking MAD, and maybe you should go, because I don't want to say awful things to you ever again..."

"S'okay," said Joey with a shrug. "I'm not going anywhere, Justin. I'm a little... I don't know. I didn't see that coming. But I'm not going anywhere. You gonna let AJ finish with your dress?"

Justin sniffled and shook his head, then nodded, then shook it again. Joey could hear AJ sigh longsufferingly. "Lalo's crying in the bathroom, and she slapped me," and that was definitely Justine's voice, not Justin's, though there was maybe even a thread of...humor?...there. "F-f-fucking bitch. Made me come back here." She finally raised her head, and her eyes were puffy and red and swollen, one cheek suspiciously red. She wouldn't look Joey in the eyes.

"You girls together are a menace," Joey said, and sighed again, then smiled and lifted Justine's chin with one finger. "We should go wash your face, then worry about the dress. It's early enough, yet. Yeah?"

Justine nodded. "I probably look like a train hit me." She pushed hair out of her face with shaking hands. "The show's going to be late anyway, Howie's not dressed yet and La's trying to get Chris on her cell. And, and we need microphones, and I'm still not sure what to do about my ankle, and crying's so awful for the voice, god, I can't go out there like this..." her hands knotted in her hair and she bit her lip hard.

"We'll take care of you," said Joey, reaching for her hand and pulling it away from her hair. "We'll get all this sorted out. But first, a little cool water, I think. AJ?" He looked back of his shoulder at him. "I'll bring her back in one piece and you guys can finish up. Promise."

"She's all yours." AJ settled into a chair with another cigarette. "Ju, sweetie, you'll feel better soon. Let the Percs do their work, and you'll calm down a little."

Justine nodded again, relief flashing across her face, and let Joey pull her to her feet. "I didn't want you to see me like this," she mumbled, tugging at her dress to straighten it. "Sorry, Joey."

"Justine," he said, trying to make himself comfortable with both the name and the concept. "If we're going to be together as long as I hope we're going to be together, I'm going to see you like this again, and I'm going to see you worse than this, and you're going to see *me* worse than this, too. That's just life. Which way to the bathroom, now?"

She took a deep breath and tossed her head, settling her hair and standing straighter. "Right through there," she nodded, and let him lead her out into the hallway. It was strange for Joey...he was used to shy Justin and bold Justine, and the person he was with now seemed to be parts of both by turns. Justine's fingers were light and casual on his arm, but the strained glances she was throwing sideways were pure uncertainty. "Such drama," she murmured, deliberately saccharine. "You poor baby, a butch boy in a pit of princesses."

"Well, you know, there's one in every crowd," he said, opening the door for her. "I'm probably not so butch, either. It's just, you know..." He grinned at her, relieved to feel her relaxing, at least a little. "In comparison. Baby, you're a mess, let's get you cleaned up."

Her fingers fluttered up to hide her face, and then slowly dropped again. "La's gone," she said brightly, eyes skittering around the room. "Must be afraid I'll break off every one of those very expensive acrylic tips. I mean, really. Slapping? It's so Valley of the Dolls. So tacky." She padded barefoot to the sink, hips swaying, and wet a paper towel.

"She must've gotten ahold of Chris," said Joey, hanging just in the background. "I hope. Which will make your show even later. I suppose it's not an option to take a night off?"

"The show must go on," Justine murmured, patting at her face. "If she doesn't come back, we'll have to cancel. If we cancel, I will take it out of that ample ass, believe you *me*." There was clear anger there; Justin was slipping farther and farther behind the facade and Joey could almost watch him go. "But let's not talk about them, it's boring. How was your day? Meet any more hunky rock stars?"

"Not today, no," Joey said, meeting Justine's eyes in the mirror for a moment. "It was a pretty average day. I don't really have a very exciting job, despite the business it's in. You? How was your day?" He regretted the question as soon as it was out of his mouth.

Justine's face crumpled for a moment, then smoothed back out to a smile. "Well, sweetie, I've had better. Work was tedious, and then I got here and everything went right downhill. My new *shoes*, Joey. Completely ruined." She sighed dramatically, splashed some more water on her face, and then dried off, watching herself critically in the mirror.

"There are worse things," murmured Joey, watching her. "How's the ankle? Do you want me to rub it for you before you go out? And... okay, I know nothing about fashion, really, but can you wear that dress with flats? Because that might be a good idea."

"Absolutely not! But it's feeling much better now," she said, rotating it thoughtfully. "God bless AJ and his happy pills, really. And I can't even feel the scrape on my butt any more, which is its own kind of fabulous." She gave Joey a warm, lingering look. "Maybe we'll make it a quick show tonight. Before they wear off. I can't be out there limping, you know."

"And you're taking them off the moment you're off stage," insisted Joey. "I may not-- I won't try to control what you do, Justin, I would never want to do that because you're you. But I can look out for your health and I'm going to and you can't stop me. You can get your ass scraped up all you want on the court but I'm not letting you fuck up your ankles. Or your knees or your elbows or your neck or anything. That's different." It was kind of nice, to have something so concrete and relevant to focus on. Instead of any of his other options.

"Um, okay." Justine blinked at him, clearly a little surprised by his vehemence, and then ran the wet paper towel over the nape of her neck. "You realize, I really was kidding the other night about barefoot and pregnant?" She licked her lips and winked at him. "Though you're welcome to try, of course. And I'll take *very* good care of my ankles. I have to wear platforms tomorrow!"

"I'm not going all alpha male on you, Justin," Joey promised him quickly. "I mean... I totally admire you and I don't want to change you. I just... if I'm gonna be with you, I get to look out for you. It comes with the package, I think."

Justine kept pausing a little, like whatever Joey was saying, however Joey was reacting, was throwing her off balance. Like Joey wasn't following the script. "Justine," she finally sighed. "Please. Justin really can't deal with today at the moment, all right? And you can look out for me all you like, honey, I won't mind even a little bit. Alpha males are sexy."

"Justine," Joey echoed her, only hesitating for a moment. "I guess I'll talk to Justin later. And... I'd try to tell you I'm just average again, but no, no, not this time. You're damn right I'm sexy, alpha male or not. And... hey, you feeling better, baby? AJ's waiting..."

Justine took a step towards him, chin tipped down. "Kiss me first? You sexy, sexy man? And then AJ can poke me with pins some more, and you can keep admiring me, because honey that ain't never gonna get old."

"No, it really won't," agreed Joey, taking a moment to do exactly that, admire her, make her feel good about herself. And it didn't take any more convincing than that to want to kiss her quite thoroughly, taking advantage of the fact that she hadn't done her make-up yet. "You are beautiful and strong, Justine."

"I am a diva bitch with too much hair," she replied against his lips with disarming candor. "But we've all got our little crosses to bear, hmm?" She slipped her tongue into his mouth, suddenly shaking a little again, fisting her hands in his shirt till the knuckles went white.

"Would it be really wrong for me to strip you and have sex with you right here?" asked Joey, the question just popping into his head as they kissed, and coming out of his mouth before he could consider it. But the question was very, very genuine, with a warm armful of Justine and those wonderful kisses and the passion that sparked the moment they touched each other like that. Joey blamed at least part of it on their heightened emotional state, and the rest he didn't waste time thinking about. "I can be quick, if I have to be..."

"Please, yes," Justine gasped, dragging one leg up his thigh to hitch it over his hip, grinding their bodies together. It was like someone had dropped a lit match on kerosene; as soon as Joey spoke, she was trembling and moving and melting against his body. "You don't even have to strip me, god, Joey, please?"

Joey glanced up at the door, then decided it was worth the risk. "I take it we don't have the, um, special panties to worry about right now?" he said. Justine seemed to want this as much as Joey did, and Joey wanted it, wanted to convince her that he still wanted to be with her, maybe wanted to convince himself, too, that these two personalites in the same body were the same person that he was coming to feel so strongly about. "I just need to--" He reached down, still giving her quick little kisses, and started undoing his belt.

Justine shook her head, chuckling though it was a strained sound, and reached under her skirt to take something off. "There, NOW there's nothing to worry about." Joey'd barely managed to get his belt and button undone before Justine was all over him again, kissing his mouth, licking hungrily at his throat, hands roaming his back. "Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me," she was whimpering, by the time she pulled back a little, panting. "Pleasepleaseplease, oh I need it."

"I know, baby, I know," said Joey, and he did. He knew that, he could feel it. "On the floor... hope I don't hurt your ass... " He was already touching it, caressing it, sliding Justine's dress up his legs, higher and higher. "I need it too."

"Floor's dirty," she protested, nipping at his ear. "Counter, do me on the counter, you're tall enough, god I love that. Sexy man." She wrapped that leg high on his hip again, the shiny fabric of her dress smooth and cool on his oversensitive skin, and started that grind again. "You're not gonna hurt me, you couldn't."

"On the counter?" said Joey, looking at it dubiously. "Or against the counter? Or... or maybe *over* the counter, is what you mean..." Now *that* could work, Joey thought, though the mechanics of the whole thing were still new to him. He wanted it to work. He really just wanted this, and he lifted the dress higher still.

Justine murmured approval, sliding her hips against his hands. *His* hips, because no matter what he was wearing, this was definitely a boy. "Whichever," she finally got out, breathy. "Over is fine, that's good, whatever." She grabbed Joey's hand and dragged him towards the sink and counter, turning away from him, staring at their reflection in the mirror as she backed up against his body. Her pupils were *huge*.

"Justin, god," said Joey, reverting back to how he knew him best when he could really feel Justin's body against his. He let go only to drop his pants to his ankles, then leaned in and kissed and licked at Justin's neck. He tasted nice, and clean, and sweet and Joey wanted more of him, wanted to have him, and her, him and her, for a long time.

"Please," just a breath of sound, and Justine nudged back with her hips, bracing her palms on the countertop and arching her back. "Come on, Joey, no more waiting, just do it." Her fingers dug at the countertop like she'd be grabbing hold if she could, and Joey could feel the fine tremors running through that long body.

He took a deep breath and sucked his fingers into his mouth and then carefully just slid Justine's dress the rest of the way up to her waist and pushed a finger inside her body. And it was just as easy as that, just as natural as that. He wanted this person so fucking much that it just about hurt. "No waiting," he promised, only once his finger was inside. "Just this, first."

Justine wasn't even making words any more, just noises, rocking back on his finger greedily. A glance at the mirror showed her eyes tight shut, mouth a little open as she panted, and then an impatient twist of shoulders that demanded more just as clearly as any words could have.

Joey did more fingers first, a second finger, then, very soon after, a third when Justine seemed like she was more than ready for it. She was so fucking beautiful, Joey just had to lean in and kiss her neck again, fingers buried deep inside her still. "Now," he whispered, near her ear. "I'm gonna now, okay? Now."

"Now," Justine echoed loudly, then bit her hand. "Mmmm," when Joey pushed in, so easily, Justin's body relaxed and welcoming and hot and hungry. "Ohgod," she blurted when he was finally in, arching her shoulders back, pushing him even deeper. "Joey, love...this, love it, please do this all the time, okay, every day?"

"Shhhh," said Joey, not hardly, just gently, kissing right between Justine's shoulderblades as he got used to the sensation of being inside her all over again. "So good, yes, all the time, all the time..." He could see them both in the mirror and he couldn't even look so long because it was so hot, so beautiful, so right.

"Just. Like. This." Every word punctuated by a little buck, and it was almost too much. Too hot, too tight, too much friction, and that niggling worry that he was forgetting something, but his brain wasn't working coherently enough for him to care. "Joey, PLEASE." Justin's eyes were bright and watering and met Joey's desperately in the mirror.

Joey stood back up a little straighter again, which drove him deeper inside, and rested one hand on Justine's back, the other on her hip. And started just... fucking. Just driving into her, not too hard, just hard enough. It was a revelation to be able to see her expressions as they did this, see exactly how she was feeling with every motion he made.

And Justine took it all and hung on, eyes closing again and head hanging down, rocked by Joey's thrusts. Little grunts and moans were the only sounds she was making now, face changing every time Joey changed angles or pace, and then her head tossed back and her eyes flashed open. "I'm gonna," she gritted out, and twisted back against him, her whole body starting to shake.

Joey had the presence of mind to make sure her dress was out of the way, but that was it. He just screwed into her and held her tight and let her come. And let her take him right along with him, all in a rush, his body almost spasming as he came inside her. "Oh god," he breathed as the sensation of relief and pleasure and ecstasy rolled over him.

Justine went boneless and limp, slowly collapsing down on the counter like her arms wouldn't support her any more. Her head propped on her arm, Joey wouldn't have been surprised to find out that she'd actually fallen asleep for a few moments, then and there. A little noise of protest when Joey went to pull out was the only sign that the lights were even on in there. All the tension had gone out of her like a puppet with its strings cut.

He hated to let go of her, but he had to grab something to clean them up, and ended up settling on a wad of toilet paper. There were a couple of towels, but he didn't know who they belonged to, and that was just rude. He returned as quickly as he could. "That was great," he murmured. "That was... just what we needed."

"Mmm-hmm," Justine hummed, watching him through half-open eyes. "And people say sex doesn't solve anything. Idiots." She wiped roughly at her eyes, blinked dreamily, and let him pull her up, though she leaned back against him instantly. "I'm all sticky," she sighed. "And you made my legs go all wobbly."

"Let me take care of the sticky," murmured Joey, and as his brains started to seep back into his head it occurred to him just what he'd forgotten before. "Oh, fuck," he whispered, and closed his eyes, but he decided now wasn't the time to bring it up with Justin. Justine. Not when she was feeling so good, now. "Yeah, baby, sometimes a bit of sex is exactly what you need to blow off some steam. Remind us of what's important and special."

"Mmmmm," Justine hummed, still draped against him bonelessly. "Blowing off something all right. Christ, I hope I didn't stain my dress." She grabbed the hem and lifted it, looking for spots, then dropped it with a relieved sigh. "Joey, sugar, you are one hell of a fuck. I'm *still* seeing stars." Her head rolled back against his shoulder, and she gave him a wicked smile. Only her eyes were still a little heavy and stunned-looking, and her pupils were still blown.

It wasn't what Joey was used to, after being with Justin, but then he didn't really have a whole lot of experience to compare it to. And, after all, this wasn't Justin. This was clearly Justine. "I was careful of your dress," he promised her. "It's so gorgeous on you I wouldn't dare let it get stained. Especially not before you have to go perform. And I'm not such a Neanderthal I have to have my mark on you when other people see you, or something."

"You're such a sweet talker," she purred, leaning forward to check her face critically. She was moving slowly, in contrast to the blase voice, like she was tired deep down. Joey wouldn't have been at all surprised. "You can mark me any time you like, baby. I'm all yours." She turned in his arms, suddenly serious and almost desperate, a flash of Justin behind the careful facade. "I don't mind people knowing I'm yours. I am, right? Still?"

"I certainly hope so," Joey assured her, leaning in to give her -- him -- a firm kiss on the lips. A promise. "And if I was going to mark you, I'd be classier about it than letting you stain your dress, you'd better believe. It would be something an awful lot more intimate than that. Are we... are you... better now? Yeah?"

"I was fine before," Justine flashed defensively, tossing her head. "Just a little stressed. I'm really sorry I took it out on you and AJ and everything, but I was fine." She tugged on a curl, hard. "You know. My shoe broke, and everything. That's highly stressful for a glamour girl like me."

"Well, I hope I made you feel better about your shoe, then," said Joey, and smiled at her. "I should probably... get dressed. Before they coming looking for us and find us here and chew me out for defiling a beautiful girl like you. And you are, you know." He ran his hand down Justine's cheek and hoped to make her smile.

Instead of smiling, she looked at him with eyes going wider and wider, and suddenly brimming with tears. "Joey," she choked, and then tried to pull away from him, hands coming up to hide her face, twisting aside and out of his line of sight. Her shoulders were shaking. "Don't be nice to me," she whispered harshly.

"I'll be nice to you if I damn well want to, Justine," he said, suspecting that the abrupt tone would get that through to her more than any gesture of kindness could. "Now wash your face again so Howie doesn't have a fit about it when you ask him to do your eyes. You do still have to take the stage at some point tonight." And he slapped her ass playfully, very deliberately avoiding the injured side.

She jumped and spun, sniffling and shocked, but the tears dried up as she glared at him. "No smacking," she huffed. "Don't abuse the merchandise. I've got to shake this thing out there and it's already all bruised." She turned away and sniffed one more time, grabbing for more paper towels and turning on the water, blinking at Joey in the mirror through a small pout.

"It was only a little smack," said Joey, relieved to see that it worked to get her back on track again. He didn't want her to repress everything, but there was a time and a place and this really wasn't it, he didn't think. "That's better, isn't it? Just dry off and we'll be good to go, Justine."

"Easy for you to say," she grumbled, pulling her hair back from her face and patting it dry. "You don't have to go say sorry to, like, the entire planet. Apologizing is so...ugh." She wrinkled her nose. "And La, that twat, she's probably laughing right now with her precious Chris, because she smacked the diva. Fine. Okay, I'm ready." She wasn't limping at all as she headed for the door.

"Looking good," murmured Joey, and hoped she heard and thought she was overhearing. It seemed to be what motivated her, when she was in this state. "And I'm sure she won't. Or if she tries, Chris won't put up with it. Or Howie will just do away with both of you and take the stage himself."

"Oh, I would like to see him try," Justine tossed over her shoulder scornfully, though she was clearly pleased with his compliment. "That queen couldn't take me on my worst day, which...okay, today is close, and she'd *still* get nowhere near. Scrawny little bitch. Oh, god, I've still got to get my dress finished." She took an abrupt turn and sailed back into the room they'd left earlier, where AJ was still sprawled in his chair, reading a magazine. He barely looked up.

"Oh look, you both survived," he said dryly. "Good to know."

"More or less,"said Joey, and he suspected his weariness came through that time. "We still have time to finish Justine's dress, I hope." He glanced as his watch. "I'm sure. I'd help, but... in the kitchen, I'm a god. In the sewing room? I'm a nuisance."

"That's okay, Ju's a nuisance everywhere," AJ said airily, taking his life into his hands without so much as a twitch. Justine just grunted, and wandered over to him as he put down the magazine. "We've got plenty of time, and I'm quick. Back when diva here was just a baby, I had to alter all her clothes. Couldn't buy a dress that fit to save her life. 'But it's blue, AJ!' 'But look at the sequins, AJ!' I tell you."

"God, AJ, shut up," Justine sighed grimly, letting AJ start working on the dress again. "Seriously."

"I can just imagine," said Joey, watching them and smiling. Glad that whatever had been going on when he got there had blown over. He still wasn't entirely sure what had happened, it all felt like a whirlwind from the moment he'd walked backstage. "You look great, Justine, you really do. No one's going to be able to keep their eyes off you... just the way it ought to be. Should I just stay out of your way?"

"*Please* don't expand her ego any more," AJ begged, pinning with quick efficient hands. "It's hard enough to fit her in our lil' apartment already, what with the hair and the head and all. It's much nicer when sweet little Justin's around."

"You *would* think so," Justine said silkily. "You never could handle anything with any spirit." AJ just snorted at that and rolled his eyes. "Joey, come here and make this nasty man stop being mean to me," Justine demanded.

"Oh, no," said Joey, raising both his hands. "I think this is something I should definitely stay out of. One doesn't get between roommates if he wants to leave with his genitals and dignity intact. Sweet little Justin will return when sweet little Justin will return and that's that. Besides, Justine, darling, I think you're plenty able to make the 'nasty man' stop being mean to you all by your lonesome."

Justine stared at him, as AJ just winked and nodded in approval. "But I shouldn't have to! That's what you're here for, right, to be my protector?" The pout intensified. "AJ's my roommate, if I'm too mean to him he toes terrible things to my shoes. He put all the black ones in with the white ones last week!"

"Oh, the horror, the horror," AJ deadpanned.

"They were *scuffed*," Justine hissed, eyes narrowing dangerously. Joey noted that she'd stopped the wilting princess routine, though, and was back to spitting nails.

"Better scuffed shoes than scuffed me," argued Joey, standing his ground, even though he did want to go over and touch Justine a little. Bask like he hadn't had a chance to, back in the bathroom. He wondered what he looked like, wondered if AJ could tell what had gone on. Or had guessed. "I promise to be your protector when you actually need it, honey."

"He wouldn't dare actually scuff you," Justine promised, looking at Joey pleadingly. "Come over here anyway, even if you don't defend my honor and my shoes? It's nicer when you're here instead of all over there and far away. AJ can work around you. Since he's so *clever* and all." She exchanged sneers with AJ, who was running fingers around the hem of her dress carefully.

Joey did get closer this time, partly because it seemed safer now and partly because he didn't like to stay away that long. Not now that he and Justin were getting as close as they were. Even though this wasn't, exactly, Justin. It was who he had met first, though. He ran his hand over the fabric on Justin's back then drew it away again carefully. "It isn't even rumpled," he murmured. "That's good fabric, right?"

"The best," AJ confirmed, as Justine preened. "I picked this up at a runway sale." At Joey's blank look, he explained. "After the models get done wearing the clothes on the runway, they're usually sold at about a tenth of what they're worth. Sometimes even less, since there are about fifteen people on the planet who can wear the same dress as Naomi Campbell. Fortunately for her, Ju's one of the fifteen."

"Wider shoulders, but no tits or hips," Justine said smugly, even as her hand snuck behind her back to touch Joey's leg.

"Tsk," AJ warned, flicking her hip. "It's good fabric, but not perfect, so no more action for you two until *after* the show."

Joey coughed politely, but he was surprised to find he didn't actually feel too embarrassed about it after all. Maybe he was getting used to this whole gay-boyfriend-dragprincess-hissyfit thing after all. At least a little. "I wonder if they know where those dresses are going when they sell them," he mused. But then, they probably did, actually, what with the minimum height of fashion models exceeding the average height of most women.

"Oh, probably," AJ echoed his thoughts. "Most of the people I'm fighting off my finds are men, after all. Jubaby, turn around?" Justin twirled obediently, the green skirt just touching the tops of her feet in front and draping in a small train behind. "Perfect," AJ declared, getting to his feet again. "I think you should wear your hair up tonight, with that neckline. Maybe a french twist?"

"I don't want to," Justined declared. "I'll need the hair to distract from the disgusting blotchy face and the unmatching shoes. God, I'll be a laughingstock if I go out there like this."

"Your face isn't blotchy anymore," Joey protested. "Especially not after you do your make-up. And I've never seen you with your hair up before. I bet it looks really nice. I have no idea what a french twist is, but it sounds classy. Is it classy?" He turned to AJ for an answer, figuring he would be more likely to give him an honest one.

"Oh, you've seen it before," AJ promised him, watching Justine subtly out of the corner of his eye. "It's super classy, definitely. And it would really work much better with this gown than the current wild-child look. Or is it more Cousin It?"

Justine's hands flew to her head. "I do not look like Cousin It!" She ran to the mirror, peering in anxiously. "Oh my god, I do. It's a fright wig. I can't stand it. Oh my god, Joey! How can you even look at me!"

"I can't," said Joey, deadpan. "It's too horrible. I have to turn away." Then, before she could recover enough to go off on him, he grabbed her around the waist and kissed her temple gently. "You look hot," he said. "Let AJ do what he wants to your hair. He seems to know what he's talking about, baby."

"Have you *seen* AJ's hair?" she wailed, but leaned against him comfortably anyway. "And I've got to get Howie to do my makeup. Definitely need a pro job tonight, and where's La? Are we even going on tonight?" She turned anxious eyes on Joey. "Could you go see if she's in the other dressing room? While AJ does my hair?" AJ was already digging in his duffel bag, emerging with hairpins and combs and tubes of products. Like the MacGyver of drag queens, Joey found himself musing.

"Come, come, go, go," said Joey, but he grinned at her. "Sure, whatever you want, princess. Do you just need me to check? Or do you need me to drag him on in here to get started on you? Since apparently you think this is some monumental task."

"Well, at least you got to come before going," AJ muttered, setting his tubes aside in order. Justine slapped his head lightly, before turning back to Joey.

"Could you bring...no, no, Howie can't work with AJ doing my hair at the same time. It'll just have to be after! But La, if she's there, bring her in, because we've got to get things settled before the show. And tell Howie I need *help*, please?" She kissed him lightly, hands just touching his waist. "Thank you, sugar."

"No problem," said Joey, giving her another quick kiss. "It'll give me something useful to do." He ducked out of the room and went to where he'd last seen Howie, hoping that things were status quo in that end of the backstage. "Hello?" he said before going in. "Nobody naked around, right?"

"Nobody here but us girls," Howie called back, which Joey assumed meant it was safe. It was, more or less: Howie was half-dressed in underthings and a slip, and was sitting with Lalo's head cradled in his lap, petting her hair. "Oh, look, Joey's here, all in once piece and everything. We heard screaming, honey, is the diva okay?"

"She was okay when I saw her," Lalo muttered, waving a languid hand at Joey. "I'm not getting up, I've got the headache from hell."

"The princess has requested your presence, La," said Joey, and made sure she saw him smiling. "She wants to apologize. And I'm begging you to accept, because I don't think I can ride out another diva fit tonight. I wasn't really well prepared in advance and wow, that's really something."

"That one was short, at least," Howie sighed. "Maybe you're a pacifying influence or something, that would be nice. La, play nicely and go let Ju grovel to you. You know you love that."

"She's going to try to tear out my hair," Lalo warned. "I slapped her, and that's something like unforgivable. But she was in hysterics and screaming at me, what else could I do? Not to mention the total disregard of *my* use of the bathroom for my drama." She sat up slowly, holding her head. "I'm only doing this because I like you, Joey."

"She's calm now, I swear," Joey promised Lalo. "We, um... well... anyway, she's calm. Calm and begging forgiveness from anyone who gets near her. Is that how it always happens? Anyway... so yeah. She asked me to bring you in specifically. And Ho--Bliss, right? She says she needs you to do her make-up, because she thinks she looks hideous right now because of the crying, even though she doesn't."

"She probably does," Bliss contradicted him. "Damn that girl's eyes swell up, and the splotches? Maybe not hideous to you, you sweet thing, but not fit to go on stage. Of course, I'll be able to fix her right up." She slid out from under Lalo's arm and started towards the dress rack. "Just let me get dressed, so I'll be all set by the time she's done with the grand apology."

"She usually storms off screaming, and the apologies are nice and calm the next day," La said, ignoring Bliss for the most part. "I think this is my first time getting them so close together. Lead the way, big man."

And it was as easy as that. Joey had half been anticipating having to coax one or the other into doing what needed to be done -- though he had no idea how he was going to do that -- and was relieved that virtually no effort was required on his part.

"AJ's just working on her hair, I think," Joey said as they made their way to the other room. "I didn't really realize he did that stuff -- the dress, the hair. I thought he was just the DJ roommate. You know?"

Lalo hitched a shoulder, and Joey was struck by how she seemed to be treating this entire situation as completely normal. He wondered again exactly how often these little explosions occurred.

"AJ's multitalented, he used to work for a designer," La said on a sigh. "He's handy to have, when he's not stoned or chasing some rock star. Or both. Mostly he's good at managing Justine, so we like keeping him around."

"Yes, he definitely seems to be that," said Joey, pushing the door open with only the slightest little knock. People didn't seem to be much for knocking around here. "We're back," he said, louder. "I brought a guest. And Howie will be ready for you soon, princess."

"Oh good, the gang's all here," said AJ, stepping away from Justine. "Let the fun begin."

Justine looked at Lalo warily, making no move towards her. Joey noticed her hands clenching up again, shoulders hunching, the movement made more visible somehow by the fact that her hair was swept back in an elegant twist, little curls falling to frame her face. "Where's Chris?" she demanded abruptly, a little tremor in her voice.

"Hey," La complained, turning to Joey and ignoring the question. "I thought you said there would be apologizing."

Joey coughed politely, and a little helplessly, and looked at AJ who's expression seemed to indicate that Joey was on his own, on this one. "Play nice," he murmured, loud enough that they could both hear. "I'm new here and you don't want to scare me away. I'm pretty sure there will be some apologizing in here somewhere, though. Right, princess?"

"If you were going to be scared off I'm sure the shrieking and throwing things would have done it already," Lalo said before Justine could open her mouth, but when Justine's face started to fall, she stepped forward quickly. "Oh, honey, it's okay."

"I'm sorry, La," Justine said softly, tipping her head down to Lalo's shoulder and hugging her back. "I didn't mean that stuff I said. Are you and Chris okay?"

"Baby, we're always okay," La said with a smile, "You know we can't stay mad." Joey saw a little shiver that looked like relief travel through Justine.

"Justine, careful of the hair," said AJ sharply, but fondly, too, Joey thought. He showed his affection strangely, but there was no mistaking that it was there. "I'm not doing it again, you know."

"So everyone's good? " said Joey tentatively, feeling his own relief, finally, at the sign of Justine's. "Everyone's happy? Everyone loves each other again? And I can sit down or faint or something?"

Justine was just being quiet and resting her head on La's shoulder. Lalo, though, snickered. "Don't faint, Joey, you'll hit your head. And believe me, no one in this place knows CPR. Mouth to mouth, maybe." Her arms were looped light and comfortable around Justine's waist.

"I don't know about love," AJ sighed, starting to toss styling products back into the bag, "but it looks like the fireworks are over. Right, Ju? No more hysterics tonight?"

"Too tired," Justine mumbled quietly, turning a red face against Lalo's dress.

"Sweetie, stay with us," Lalo said gently but firmly. "We've still got a show to do, Justine, and you need to be in tip-top shape. Joey, come take this child, will you?"

Joey was pretty perfectly happy now to have people telling him what to do now that they weren't in crisis mode. Though, really, he would have been pretty perfectly happy to have had someone telling him what to do then, too.

"Hey, princess," he said, running his hand down Justine's back again. "You're coming home with me again tonight, right? I can make us a big midnight snack when we get home and you can just relax. Don't worry about thing. Except maybe getting your face on, right now. Are you running late yet?"

"No," Justine mumbled, leaning towards him, now, aided by La's little shove. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, shaking her head and pulling herself up straight. She blinked at Joey quickly, leaned in for another kiss, and then her face settled into determination. "Okay. Makeup, yes, Bliss has to make me gorgeous. And then I'm going home with mah man, who's gonna take good care of me, since I'm his princess and all." She batted her eyelashes campily at Joey, but her smile was sincere.

Joey just grinned back, the relief becoming more profound. He hadn't been kidding on the fainting bit. Or he had, but maybe just not so much as they thought he was. "You bet I will," he promised her, running his thumb over her cheek and under her eye, catching a stray bit of moisture. "And you're going to be phenomenal tonight and I'm going to get to see it." He wondered, briefly, just when he was going to get to see Justin again.

"We're going to start calling you the iron man, if you keep being this stable," Lalo said to him, quiet and ironic, before tugging Justine's arm gently. "Come on, baby, let's go get your face on. Bliss was getting ready for you in there when we left. Oh, I didn't even notice! Is that dress a Kors?"

"Yeah," Justine smiled, and gave Joey a lingering, wet kiss, before being pulled out the door.

"That really was quite the display of calm and collection," AJ commented into the quiet they left behind them.

"Yeah, well..." said Joey, and shrugged. Really, he'd been on autopilot the whole time. "I'm not much the type to overreact to stuff. Even though I'm... more than a little shook up, on the inside. Even when I was dating girls, I've never been through something quite like that. And... that happens a lot? Not that I'm gonna bail or something, I'm just... you know?"

"Yeah," AJ agreed wryly, grabbing two bottles out of a carrysack he had with him. "Beer? You look like you could use one. It happens...often enough. Depends on phases of the moon and placement of the planets and what's going on in her friends' lives, I guess, not just her own state of mind. It took me about six months to figure out a coping strategy...I'm glad you seem to have better instincts than I did. At least, seems that way so far, the way you dealt with her back there."

"Just going with my gut," admitted Joey, accepting the beer gratefully. "Seems to me, the thing she needs most right now and just about any time is to know that I'm not going anywhere. You know? Shit calms down after that. It's weird, though. I mean... that's not Justin, you know? I. Well. I don't think I really got that, 'til now. It's not just a stage act -- that's really not Justin."

"Nope," AJ sighed. "Well, you know, more or less. Justin's still in there, it's not like Justine's this completely separate person. Justin remembers what Justine does, and vice versa, but Justine's kind of..well, you saw." He took a long, satisfied swig of beer. "It's more like Justine is Justin plus. Justin with no limits, good or bad. But between you and La jumping in there, this was one of her milder blow-ups, really. Thanks for that."

"If that was mild, I'd hate to see a real one," murmured Joey. That had been quite enough, as far as he was concerned, and more than he'd been expecting. "It's kind of... I don't even know what to say. I adore her, but I adore him more. And this is all very weird for me. It's kind of, like, psychotic or something. No, not psychotic. But a psychosis. Or something. I don't know the right words for it."

"Oh, psychotic's not a bad word for it," AJ said dryly. "I think it's kind of just a coping mechanism, though, taken to extremes. 'Course, I'm not a shrink, so what do I know? But Justin doesn't deal real well with things going south, ever since he got here. At least since I met him, anyway." He patted Joey's shoulder reassuringly. "I'm pretty sure he's not at the point of climbing a clock tower with a rifle or nothing, or speaking in tongues. He's just a little split, is all. Oh, and obsessive, too. Don't mess with his shoes, like, at all."

Joey grinned a little bit, but AJ seemed serious. "I'll keep that in mind," he said, figuring that worked for both sides of it, and sighed. "Has he ever talked to anyone about this? Wait, no, of course he hasn't. This is Justin "I don't need your help, I can take care of myself" Timberlake. He's just... so damn sweet, AJ. So sweet and wonderful it hurts."

"Except when she's throwing vases at your head," AJ pointed out, grinning. "But yeah, generally, you're right. His folks just fucked him up righteously, you know? From what he's let slip he was something like the Great White Hope back in high school, before his parents found out he liked dick, and then he wasn't dirt to them. Long way to fall, you know? But I'll let him tell you about that, when he wants to. Just...handle with care, a'right? He's mostly pretty okay, most of the time."

"I... yeah, I will, I do," said Joey, staring at his hands for a moment. Feeling like he was in over his head all over again, but not wanting to go anywhere in spite of it. "I can't even imagine what he went through. I guess all I can try to do is make his life better, from now on. You're... I should be thanking you. For taking such good care of him, so he'd be here to find when I was ready to be here, too."

AJ shrugged carelessly, tossing back the last of the beer. "Us fags gotta stick together," he said roughly, "He's got a new family now, all of us. We really *are* family, and god, I hate that fuckin' song. But you get what I mean." He watched Joey with dark, serious eyes. "You're family now too. Don't forget that, cause there are plenty of Justins out there who could use a hand if you should happen to run across 'em."

Joey nodded slowly and seriously, grasping the importance of what AJ was saying. "I don't know what Justin's told you," he said after a moment. "but this really is all new to me. I have a lot to figure out, about how people are and how things work and everything. But I've always known how to look out for people who need it, so you don't need to worry about that."

"That's all you gotta do," AJ grinned at him again, earnest moment clearly over. "You'll fit in just fine with this group of meddling queens, I can tell already. Me, I'm just an occasional visitor here." He waved his hand expansively. "I come, I sew, I laugh at the drama, I go home and get laid. What a life. This lot's way too high maintenance for me."

Joey snorted and figured that AJ was right about that, but it was too late now. "You'll have to come out with us sometimes, though," he said. "You know, when you're not too busy with the getting laid bit. After all, you wouldn't want to leave the poor new guy at the mercy of all the drama queens, right?"

AJ just arched a wicked eyebrow at him in answer, and offered another beer. Cracking open his own, he flopped back into his chair. "Most of the time when y'all are going out, I'll be working. Possibly in the same places you're going out *to*. So mostly the only time I'll be around to run interference is your occasional late brunch." He crossed his booted feet at the ankles. "And I'm never not too busy with the getting laid, believe me. You're on your own, kid."

"PIty," said Joey, taking the second beer with the same enthusiasm as the first. "We're going out to see this kid -- Nick something. Carter. In a couple nights, I think. Late. Figured it might kinda be your thing, from what Justin's told me about you. Another time maybe, I'll pin you down some time. Now that I've finally met you I'm not letting you abandon me." And he gave AJ a wicked grin of his own.

"Baby," AJ drawled, "you can pin me down any time." He snickered. "Except I think Ju might stab me to death with an icepick in my sleep. But y'know, I've been hearing things about that Carter kid, he's supposed to be pretty good. If you give Ju the info, maybe I'll show up for the second set, if I can." He saluted Joey with his beer, and hauled himself back to his feet. "And on that note, I gotta jet. The baby queers at Banter are probably lined up by now, waiting to hear their precious pop."

"And you wouldn't want to upset the baby queers," said Joey, only a little uncomfortable with the word 'queer'. "Thanks for the beer, man, you've been a lifesaver. Really. I wouldn't have known how to handle that whole thing, I don't think." Except he would have figured something out -- *had* figured something out. "Have a good night, I'll see you around, I'm sure."

"You woulda coped," AJ said reassuringly, sweeping a few stray bottles and spools of thread into his bag, then shouldering it. "I'm like a bad penny, I usually turn up when you don't want me to. But you're welcome for the beer, and good luck with the Lady later. Remember, don't push too hard. Not till tomorrow, maybe, and in the interim, thanks for keeping her out of our place." He winked.

Joey actually laughed, and for a moment it felt like everything was good, everything would be fine. "I'm happy to have her," he said, unsure of whether it would be him or her that he would be having. "I won't push, not right now. It's eggshells from here until dawn, I think. You know? There'll be a time, but I sure as hell know that it's not right now. Later, man!"

AJ waved over his shoulder, and Joey heard his voice in the hall before the door swung right back open again, and Justine and Bliss walked through. Justine looked flawless and cool, not a hair out of place, stepping elegantly in high heels and with one hand lightly resting on Bliss's shoulder. "We're already almost fifteen minutes late," she was saying with a little edge. "Fast warmup and then we'll start the show with something really hot, to make them forget. Hi, Joey."

"Hey," he said, giving them both a little wave and hopping right back into the thick of things again. "Looking good. Should I just stay out of the way some more? Let you girls do your thing? Where's La?"

"Kissing Chris," Justine said with a little smile. "And she better hurry up, because we are running *so* late. Joey, baby, if you want to go out front, we're going to be on in less than five minutes, I swear. I know Chris is heading up there now, so you'll have company and everything. Did AJ have to leave?"

"He never stays for the good stuff," Bliss pouted a little. "If I didn't know better I'd think he didn't want to sleep with me again."

Joey lifted his eyebrows again, but then just took the comment in stride. "He had to work," he said, and stopped to give Justine a lingering kiss before heading to do the door. "Okay, I'll get out of your hair. Be good, princess, I'll see you soon."

"Bye bye bye," she trilled, waving her hand at him. By the time he was three steps down the hall, he could hear them starting to warm up.

"Okay, what the fuck happened here tonight?" Chris didn't so much start a conversation as explode into it, Joey thought through his startled surprise at being grabbed and stared at anxiously. "You're not leaving her, are you?"

"What? No! God, no," said Joey immediately, without even having to think about it. "I'm not going anywhere. You were here for most of it, weren't you? You know what happened."

"I was out of here before you even got here, man," Chris shook his head, but seemed to relax a little. "I had to take a walk, cool my head out a little. La's punishing me by not telling me anything that happened at all; all I know is, she freaked out, you came in, now you're walking out. You can see why I'd be concerned."

Joey didn't let himself laugh, not at all. "They're warming up, they're going to be on in a few minutes," he said soothingly. "I'm walking out because Justine kicked me out and told me I had to go watch with you now. Things are okay, they've cooled down. Justin just got... stressed, over a few things, and Justine took over, which brought things all the way up to drama level. Really, it's blown over."

"Well then." Chris relaxed the rest of the way, and let go of Joey's arm, shaking his head. "That's...I was kind of hoping you'd be dating a little longer before you got to see Ju in all her glory, but I guess since you're not running for the hills, all's well that ends well. How bad was it?"

"According to AJ, not bad at all," admitted Joey. "Apparently I did good. I don't know how. All I did was stay, really. And, um. Well, physical stuff, which probably has nothing to do with anything so you don't need to know. I don't much know what to make of it, but... I guess it's already too late for me. I don't want to leave her. Or him. Either of them."

"Staying's huge," Chris reassured him, with a slightly harried smile. "The physical stuff too, probably, though I never really thought of fucking her quiet. God, I wonder if it's a full moon or something, everyone's going crazy. La actually thought I was flirting with another guy today, can you believe it? And then Ju...good thing you were here, because we were both a little distracted, and she does tend to snowball if she doesn't get attention."

"People's moods feed off each other," mused Joey. "When one person goes off, other people go off, too. But the princess did get lots of attention, maybe that's just all it took. I was just in the right place at the right time. I'm. Um. Not sure I would call it fucking her quiet, but it did seem to be what she needed. For whatever reason."

"Whatever it was, thank god it worked," Chris smiled at him. "Good work, man, you came through the trial by fire and you're still standing, and so is she. I gotta tell you, I was afraid the first time she went postal you'd be hitting the road, and I wouldn't blame you even a little bit. You know what set her off this time? Besides me and La, anyway?"

"Yes," admitted Joey softly, the familiar guilt about the whole thing rising up again. "He called home today, Chris. Like, his former home. His parents. And I think it's my fault. If he wasn't so damn stubborn..."

"Oh, for fuck's..." Chris started, but then heard a door slam behind them and tugged Joey towards the door again. "C'mon, we'll talk about this later. They're gonna go on in a minute, the show must go on, and all that. Come on. Smile pretty for your boy out there."

"Always do," Joey assured him, following him out so he would be there when Justine came out. That was the important thing, that she saw him. That she knew once again that he was still there. "I promise, you'll get the whole story later. What I know of it."

Chris had managed to wrestle most of the story out of Joey between songs and between sets, and Joey could feel the tiredness of all that talking and explaining and understanding settling around him by the time they made their way backstage. The show had been flawless, and the hum of excited voices hit him as they pushed through the door. Bliss was already mostly-naked, La had her wig off and was scrubbing at her face, and Justine was fluttering around the room, talking a mile a minute.

"Hey, princess," he said, giving her a little wave and trying to act upbeat even though going through the whole story again, with Chris's additional questions, had made his whole body tense. "You were spectacular, but I think you already know that."

"Course I was," she beamed at him, hurrying over and throwing her arms over his shoulders. "We all were, I was just saying. Fa-bu-lous, that's us, we completely set the place on fire." Her hands rested on his back, and she kissed him quick and deep. "Oh baby, you're so tense, feel this! We should go home, let me rub that for you? We princesses can do more than just look fine and sing like angels, you know." She smiled into his eyes.

Joey couldn't help but smile back. "I know you do," he assured her. "We don't have to stay around if you don't want, we can just go home now, once you get changed. Oh, and hi La, hi Bliss. You were both lovely, too, of course."

"Listen to the man," Bliss cooed, winking at him. "You ever get tired of the diva, honey, you know where to come for some lovin'."

"Over my dead *body*," Justine hissed, only partially in play, as far as Joey could tell. Bliss rolled her eyes, and Lalo sighed.

"Justine, sweetness, do you really want to wear the Kors out into the street? Think what could happen to it." Lalo's voice was coaxing. "Don't you want to get changed and comfy? Those jeans and sneakers must seem awful nice right now."

"No," Justine said definitely, though she ran a protective hand down the side of the dress. "No, I'll just be really careful. I like this dress."

A part of Joey had halfway been expecting this, but it was still a bit of a jolt to hear it for real. "Princess," he said slowly. "It's way too pretty, you don't want to risk wrecking it." He looked up at Lalo and Bliss in turn, and sighed softly. "Do either of you have anything else for her to wear, maybe? A sport dress or a party dress or something? Something not quite as fancy? That's, you know, not just his jeans..."

Lalo looked at him for a long moment, chewing her lip, ignoring Justine who was twitching anxiously at Joey's side. Then she sighed and nodded, digging in her bag, pulling out a long, stretchy black skirt. "Here, baby." She dropped it in Justine's eager hands. "You can wear that with your green sweater, it'll look fine."

"Oh, nice," Justine said, kissing Lalo quickly on the cheek. "That's perfect, I definitely don't want to ruin this dress. Good idea, Joey." She started struggling with the fastenings on the dress, stepping out of her heels.

Joey watched her a little sadly, and almost hated that he'd known what the problem was, known what needed to be done to avert another fit. "Poor thing," he murmured, just loud enough for Chris to hear. "I just need to get her home, then it'll be okay. Then he'll be okay, right?"

Chris shrugged infinitesimally, slipping a careful arm around Lalo's waist. "Just give her a little time," he whispered right back. "Baby steps. Get the makeup off first, then just let things go as they may. It'll be all right, I promise." He kissed Lalo's nose, and patted Joey's shoulder.

Justine shrugged out of the green dress and hung it carefully, before pulling the skirt on with quick hands and yanking the sweater over her head. Touching her hair carefully, she turned back to Joey with a bright smile. "You're right, this is much, much more comfortable. You sure you haven't had a skirt on before?" She bumped hips with him playfully.

"Pretty sure, yeah," said Joey, bumping back gently. "I don't really have the figure for it, princess. Not like you. Are you ready to go, then? Is that it? Or are we staying for a while?"

"Well, you all can stay," Howie declared, yanking skintight jeans on, "but this girl has places to be, people to see. Later, ladies."

"Makeup sex," Chris said with a grin and a shrug, dodging Lalo's indignant swat with the ease of long practice.

"I'm ready to go, yeah," Justine said, looking exhausted for just a moment. "A bed sounds just divine right now, and if there was a bed that had a nice Jack-and-Coke attatched to it? I'm pretty sure I'd never leave."

"I think that can probably be arranged," said Joey, taking her hand and squeezing tight. "You got all your things? Good night, all, I'll be seeing you again real soon, I'm sure. Come on, princess, let's slip out quick before someone stops us."

"Okay." She smiled happily at him, waved at the room at large, and let Joey tug her out of the room, and then again out the back door, into the cool freshness of the night air. She took a deep breath once they were outside, then laced their fingers together, walking at his side in unlaced sneakers under the skirt. "My ankle," she said softly when Joey glanced at them. "Those heels were not nice, and I'm saving the rest of AJ's happy pills for after we get home."

"I'm glad you didn't stay in them any longer than you had to," he said, giving her hand another squeeze. "You need to take care of yourself, princess, or at the ver least let me take care of you." He brushed a stray lock of hair off her face and then gave her a quick kiss, not even thinking about who might see. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," she pouted at him when he stopped kissing her, but walked on easily enough, only a little limp showing that she wasn't 100%. "And my head kind of hurts, but that was a great show, huh? I can't believe La hit that note, she always misses in rehearsal. And Bliss, I can't believe she was giving that guy a lapdance!" She giggled, shaking her head. "What a tramp. Still, I can't wait to get home."

"I'm glad everything worked out," said Joey, leading her to the car. "I have some sweatpants at home you can borrow for the rest of the night, so we can get all comfortable. Or, of course, we could just wear nothing..."

Justine pursed her lips and didn't answer that, settling into the car with a relieved sigh, tossing her knapsack in the back. "You know, I think this is the first time I've been off my feet in...almost eight hours? God. What a life." She stretched luxuriously, pausing to pull a couple of bobby pins out of her hair, carefully saving the ones that had the green jewels pasted on. "I'm so glad you came tonight, baby. Don't know what I would have done without you."

"Of course I came," Joey said. "Wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now. Princess... my life has changed so much these last few days, so unbelievably much, but it's for the better. It's definitely for the better. Are you going to want to soak that ankle? Wrap it maybe? Just tell me what you need and we'll take care of it."

"Just not walking any more would be good," she admits simply, leaning her head back against the seat. "And I can wrap it tomorrow, it's not a sprain or anything. I think I just twisted it wrong. You'd think if they were going to charge $250 for a pair of heels, they'd make sure they didn't *break*. I'm writing a nasty letter, for sure." She reached over and took Joey's hand again, just holding it loosely. "It's nice that Chris and La made up, huh?"

"It is," agreed Joey, keeping his tone casual and non-threatening. "Of course, I guess they always do. Chris says everyone just seemed real highstrung tonight, you know? Even the little things, pushing people over the edge. Do we need to stop for anything on the way home?"

"I don't think so," Justine answered thoughtfully. "Unless you don't have any Jack for that Coke. I could really use a drink tonight." She rolled her shoulders like they hurt. "Yeah, I guess it was kind of a strange night. They always make up, yeah, but they might not someday, so, you know, it's great when they do. They're good together, amazing. It's much better when they're not fighting. Chris, you know...you can hear him out of *state* when he's screaming."

"They fight a lot?" asked Joey, starting for home. "I wouldn't have thought they did, really, from how they were when I first me them. That Chris has a temper on him, though. They seem real well suited to each other. Like you and me, a little. Yeah?"

"Yeah, like us," Justine smiled at him brilliantly. "Only we should fight less than they do, I think. Not that they do all the time. Not even very often. It's just very loud when it *does* happen, so it tends to stay in your mind." She yawned, looking like it caught her by surprise. "They're both awfully dramatic," she murmured, and the irony of *her* saying *that* almost left Joey almost speechless.

"Well, I guess it comes with the territory," he finally said, as neutrally as he could. "It's a bitchy world you work in. I think we can manage to not fight so much, though. Not fight much at all. I won't say never, cause I like to be realistic, but... you know. You know what I mean."

"You don't seem like much of a fighter," Justine agreed sleepily, squeezing his fingers. "Me neither, usually. I think that would be great, if we didn't fight much at all. I'd hate for you to think my world is *all* bitchy. Oh! And you got to meet AJ. What did you think? He's handy, isn't he?"

"Yeah, AJ's great," said Joey, and it was the absolute truth. If he'd met AJ somewhere else, at some party somewhere, at some bar, he could see himself getting along with him just as well. "And definitely very handy. You've got a good roommate there, princess."

"I know it," she said, a little smugly. "Even if he does fuck with my shoes. He can even fix the fridge when it breaks. I'm glad you met him tonight, he can sometimes be a little pissy when he's meeting new people out. But I knew he'd like you." She turned her head so she was looking at Joey as he drove. "Everyone likes you, Joey."

"Ha!" said Joey. "Not everyone. No one's that lucky. He seems like a real good guy, though. A real handy guy. And he likes you an awful lot, too. Shoes notwithstanding."

"God, I'm glad you live close," she said idly, as Joey pulled into his parking spot. "Hey, this time we aren't running for the elevator, huh? I can't really run anywhere right now, but your neighbors don't know that." She stretched again, and let go of Joey's hand, finally. "Let's go to bed, what do you say? And forget that large parts of today even happened?"

"I think I can live with that," said Joey. With the bed part, anyway, not necessarily with the forgotten part. He had a feeling they were issues that were going to come up again. He parked the car and helped Justine out and tried not to think so much about the neighbors. "Get you out of those clothes, get you washed up and comfortable."

Justine fisted a hand protectively in the dark fabric of the skirt, but didn't respond directly to his suggestion. "This is really comfortable," she said brightly as Joey led the way into the building. "I don't know why more boys don't wear skirts, especially when it's warm out. Girls wear pants, after all, why shouldn't we be comfortable too?"

"It looks very comfortable," agreed Joey, running his own hand over it before letting them in and heading up to his apartment. "But I wouldn't think you'd want to wear it to bed with me, is all. I was kinda hoping you wouldn't be wearing anything."

"Yeah, I usually sleep naked," she agreed, with a little frown. "But it's still really comfortable, you know? Nice." The moment the apartment door was open, she was inside, stepping out of her sneakers and leaving them sitting neatly by the door, moving nervously around the apartment like a bird looking for a perch. "Do you think I could have that drink, before we think about bed?"

"Sure," said Joey while he was locking up again. "It's in the stereo cabinet, actually. Underneath? Go ahead and grab what you want, princess, I'll meet you in the kitchen." He'd though it was a good idea, getting Justine into the skirt to get her home, but now he was wondering if it was just letting her retreat in that persona even longer. Longer than he should let her.

"Do you want one?" She called over the clinking sounds of ice cubes a moment later. "These are lovely tumblers, Joey. It's so nice not having to drink out of plastic all the time."

"You guys drink out of plastic?" said Joey, shutting off the light by the door and heading for the kitchen. "Yeah, sure, go ahead and make me one, what the hell. Another drink's not going to hurt anything."

"Great." Justine appeared in the doorway, a glass in each hand. "We drink out of plastic because we broke all the glass, and it just seemed more practical not to replace it. Another drink? Did you have a lot at the club? You don't seem like it." Quick and casual, she dropped a pill in her mouth and washed it down with a sip of her drink before slipping down to sit on the couch, propping her ankle up.

"Justin!" snapped Joey without thinking. "You don't take pills with alcohol. What are you trying to do, kill yourself?"

Justine jumped, eyes wide, and swiveled to stare at him. "It's one pill and one weak drink," she protested. "It's not going to kill me, it's not even going to make me sick! I swear, I've done it before, I'll be fine." She shook her head. "I'm not trying to kill myself, honestly. It would take a lot more pills than this little thing, anyway."

"Not again," said Joey firmly, taking a deep breath and calming himself down. "Since I can't exactly stop you this time. Justin, it's *dangerous*. I don't care if you've done it before. Me looking out for you, remember? Not again."

She looked torn, wavering between gulping down the rest of the drink in defiance and just setting it aside. Finally, with a sigh, she put the cup down. "Fine. I'll pass on the drink I've been looking forward to, because I can't have you worrying. Anything to make you happy, baby." She patted the couch beside her with a bright smile. "C'mon, come sit with me?"

Joey didn't mean to make her put the drink down, but he was relieved she had. He'd forgotten about the pills. "Not just for me, Justin, but because you know it might be a bad thing. I don't want to lose you to something so dumb, you know?"

Justine shook her head. "Something little like that...it'll take more than that for you to get rid of me." She moved over a little when Joey sat, and then curled against his side immediately. "I think you're stuck with me, honey, as long as you want me around. I mean. You could always *tell* me to go, but you'll hafta." The voice was smaller, quieter, much more Justin than Joey had seen at any point that night.

"I don't want you to go," said Joey, firmly and clearly, leaving no room for misunderstanding. "I want you to be here with me, Justin. I want to go to bed with you tonight. I don't want you to be hurt, ever."

"I won't get hurt," Justine protested quietly. "I'll be fine, Joey, I swear. And I want to go to bed with you tonight too." She slipped arms around Joey's body, leaning even closer, looking at him with smoky, made-up eyes. "I'm still your princess, right? Nothing'll happen to me with my prince looking out for me."

"Yeah, you are," said Joey, with a little bit of a sad sigh. "Of course I'll look out for you. Let's just get washed up and lie down, Justin. Yeah? We'll leave the skirt on for now, since it's so comfortable..."

Justine bit her lip, and whispered "Justine" so quietly Joey could barely hear it, before pulling away. "Okay, Joey, we can...I can wash my face. I have to borrow a towel, though, if that's all right." She stood gracefully and pulled the last few pins out of her hair, shaking it down around her shoulders.

"You can borrow whatever you want, Justin," said Joey, using the name casually like he had been since they'd left the club. "You know that. I'll be with you in a minute, I'm just going to put the glasses in the kitchen. I should probably start keeping hair ties in the bathroom, huh? Since I hope you'll be waking up here a lot, from now on."

Justine threw him a quick, off-balance glance before heading to the bathroom. "Yeah, hair ties would be good," she said, a moment before Joey heard the water start splashing. "And cold cream, too," she called after a long moment, voice a little muffled. "This soap is going to give me wrinkles, I can already *feel* them forming."

"We'll have to go shopping together some time," Joey called out, a little louder. "Pick up the things you're going to need, when you stay over." He dumped out the drinks, grateful that Justin *hadn't* drunk his after all, and headed toward the bathroom. "Because conditioner, too."

"Oh fuck," Justine swore, wiping her face almost roughly with the towel. "I forgot too. I guess I just won't wash my hair till I go home, because that flowery stuff...honey, I might be a queen, but that just means I've got *standards*. All conditioner was not created equal." She straightened up, face looking naked and vulnerable without the makeup. She touched her cheek, staring at the mirror, then blinked and turned.

Joey touched Justin's cheek, too. "Hey, Justin," he said, and leaned in to kiss him before he could say anything. "There's a store a couple blocks over. Kick me out of bed early enough and I can go and pick something up for you, you just have to tell me what. I know I'd hate having to go home dirty, if I was you."

Justine's shoulders hunched tensely, and her mouth looked a little sullen. "I wouldn't kick you out of bed for conditioner," she protested unconvincingly. "I mean, I can shower without washing my hair, y'know. It wouldn't be fair, you going shopping for me before breakfast. And anyway, I wouldn't know what to tell you to get without seeing what they have." Her hands smoothed the skirt over her thighs over and over. "Joey..." suddenly she tossed her hair and stared at him, diva to the bone. "If you keep pushing at me, I'm going to cry, you know."

"Then maybe you need to cry," said Joey quietly, but holding his ground. "Justin... it's just... you're not on stage now. And I want you back, is all. I like you an awful lot. You don't need to be afraid here. And that's all... that's it. That's all I'm gonna say about it."

Justine looked at him, breathing evenly, searching his face for a long, silent moment. Then without another word, she took the hem of the sweater and pulled it over her head, folding it carefully as Joey watched, almost holding his breath. The skirt was next, pulled off very slowly, then folded the same way. *Very* tight panties followed, and Joey could see the red marks the elastic had left around Justine--Justin's--waist. And then Justin was naked, staring at him with the same half-hopeful, half-terrified expression, hands fisted at his sides.

Joey tugged him closer and just kissed him. And kissed him and kissed him and kissed him some more. "You're amazing," he murmured. "Amazing, amazing, amazing. Come to bed, Justin. Come to bed with me, okay? And we'll... anything. I just want you there with me."

Justin was clinging like a very needy limpet, arms and one leg twined around every bit of Joey he could reach, and the moment Joey stopped kissing him his face was buried in Joey's throat, so Joey could feel the heat of his breath on his skin. "'kay," he mumbled there, not making any effort to move. "Bed's good."

Joey just about had to carry him there, but it was important to him that they get there, even if they didn't do anything. It was important to him that they just be together, that Justin let himself be Justin again. "I just need to get my clothes off," he said as he deposited Justin on the edge of the bed. "Then I'll be right there with you."

"Okay," Justin said softly, again, sliding up the bed and curling under the covers in a ball. He was watching Joey with big anxious eyes, tracking every motion like he was afraid Joey would disappear if he wasn't watching closely. When he caught Joey watching him back, though, he pulled the blanket up over his head completely.

Joey didn't waste any time stripping down, just crawling into bed with Justin as soon as he had. "It's all right," he said quietly, slipping an arm around him and kissing his neck. "It's okay, Justin."

"How?" Justin asked, raw. "How is it? Why..." His body clenched under Joey's arm, breath catching harshly. "Why do they hate me?" It was like the words opened something up inside, because suddenly he was sobbing, burying his face in the pillow and shaking all over.

"I don't know," said Joey honestly, tugging Justin around so he could hang on to him, so Justin could cry into his chest. "I don't understand people like that, Justin, because you're so wonderful. But it'll be okay because you're here, because you have me, and you have AJ, and you have Chris and Lance and Howie. Because you've proven than you can take care of yourself, that you can be strong and amazing and do what you want with your life."

"But my *mom*," Justin got out, his voice thick and wet between sobs. "My m-mom, she hates me, she wishes I was d-d-dead." His fingers were digging so hard into Joey's shoulder and arm that Joey was sure they were leaving marks, and Joey's chest was already wet. "My *mom*, Joey. She's supposed to l-l-love me forever."

Joey wanted to reassure him, but he wanted to be realistic, too. He just had to decide what would be the better approach, in the long run. "Sometimes people don't do what they're supposed to, Justin. I don't know her, I don't know what she did or said, but just... sometimes people just aren't what we want them to be, and we can't do anything about that. And then there are other people, that do more for us than we ever could hope they would. So it balances out in the end, I think."

Justin didn't answer that, just crying helplessly for a long time, until he slowly started winding down, clearly exhausted. He was a limp, heavy weight against Joey's body, breath hitching and hiccuping and breaking even after the sobs had slowed and then stopped. "I'm lucky," he finally whispered hoarsely, without lifting his head. "I know I am. But it's not the same as your mom, no matter what."

"I know it's not," said Joey honestly, stroking his back soothingly. "I know it's not, Justin, but it's what you got. I'd do anything to change how your parents have treated you, but I can't, I can just give you the things I have to give you. Me, my family, my friends. A place in my life."

Justin took another shuddering breath and sighed against Joey's damp skin. "And...and...thank you. So much. I don't deserve any of that, I don't, and it's not your fault, and I'm using you like a kleenex here..." he rolled away, groping for the tissue box Joey kept by the bed. His eyes really were swollen and red this time, and he blew his nose neatly and curled back up into his ball. "God, I'm so *tired*."

"Maybe I want you to use me like kleenex," said Joey, stroking his back again. "Justin... sometimes I don't know what to say to you, to make it better. Except make sure you know that I'm good and hooked, and I want to be with you. No matter what, You're a special person and you're already special to me."

Justin gave him a watery little smile. "Don't think there's anything you can do to make it better," he said with a tiny shrug. "But, just staying here, that's really good. I can't believe you want to be with me, I'm such a fucking huge disaster of a mess." He wormed closer to Joey, though, despite his words, wrapping around him again.

"You're really not," said Joey firmly, holding him close. "And you did something today that took a lot of strength and determination, no matter how it turned out. You want to do something with your life, and that's really cool, Justin, because you're smart and talented and I really like being with you. I choose to be with you."

"Even if I don't go back, if I never graduate?" Justin whispered, not looking at him. "Are you going to like being with me when that happens? When I never get any smarter than I am right now?"

"School doesn't make you smarter, it just makes you more educated," said Joey. "You're already smart. Justin... I won't leave you if you don't go back, it's nothing like that. I like being with you now, and I'm going to keep liking being with you. But I can see that it's something you want, something that's important to you. So let me help you, huh? Even if you never let me help you with anything else?"

Justin hitched a shoulder noncommittally, slipping his leg between Joey's and stroking a hand down his back. "We'll see. I don't...I don't want to talk about that any more." He pressed his mouth to Joey's shoulder, kissing and then nipping just a little. "Let's do something else, instead."

"We'll talk about it another time, how about?" said Joey, willing to let it go, but not willing to use sex to avoid a conversation. Again. As much as he wanted it. "But not right now. We can do something else right now."

"Okay." Justin smiled at him, a little shyly, and stroked that wandering hand down over his back, his ass, his thigh. "Good, because it's getting late and I'm so tired I'm seeing two of you, and I've definitely been wanting this ever since the bathroom."

"I thought we did this *in* the bathroom," joked Joey, letting Justin touch him, letting him get some comfort out of it and loving that smile. He wasn't made of stone, after all. "Or, oh, did you mean *this* bathroom, just now?"

"No, the other one," Justin explained, smile staying put and maybe even getting a little wider. "We did this and I wanted to do it right away again. Having you around makes me crazy, or something. I want it all the time, with you."

"I can't say I'm going to complain about that," said Joey, kissing him briefly. "But condom this time, okay? Since we didn't in there, and... that's just not a habit we should be getting into, I think. I don't want to be no fun about it or anything, but.. you know."

Justin flushed and pulled back, biting his lip. "I didn't even think," he confessed. "I didn't realize till way after, actually. I know that's awful, I just love the way it feels...I'm sorry. I'm sorry for a lot of things that happened tonight." He stroked Joey's face with light fingers. "So, so sorry."

"No, baby, it's over," said Joey, the endearment just slipping off his tongue. But Justin seemed to appreciate it. "I happened and it's over and that's okay. Just not this time, is all. This time we know we have condoms, and we use them for now, and it's okay. It's okay, I want this as much as you do, don't change your mind now..."

"I'm not, I won't," Justin rushed to assure him. "Oh, believe me, I'm not changing my mind. I'm just, I wanted you to know I'm sorry too, about that, about stuff. Okay? Because I am. But I still want this." He moved his hips against Joey's in proof.

"Okay," said Joey, accepting his words both for their sincerity and because *he* really wanted this, too. Wanted to get started and touching and stroking and rubbing. "How do you want to... ?" He ran his thumb over Justin's cheek and it still felt warm and damp, then ran both hands over Justin's back right down to his ass. "We're still being careful, I know."

"Not *too* careful," Justin smiled at him, pushing his ass back against Joey's hands a little demandingly. "I want to make you feel good, okay? Let's do it how you want to do it tonight. Anything you want, any way you like it. It'd be nice if somewhere in there I could suck you, though, 'cause I want to do that."

"Oh," breathed Joey and he felt his cock jump at the idea. 'Down boy' he thought at it, and smiled at Justin. "Yeah, you could definitely do that if you wanted. I'm still... you know I'm still all unsure of the best ways to do this. I'm still just following your lead." Except earlier that day in the bathroom, when he'd taken the lead just fine. "I just want to be able to see you this time."

"You could see me last time," Justin pointed out. "There was a mirror. There have got to be things you've wondered about, huh?" He trailed his fingers up and down Joey's spine, stroking teasingly. "Sixty nining. Rimming. I guess we already did it standing up." He was scarlet, blushing, but didn't look away from Joey's face. "Y'know, all that stuff."

Joey nodded almost numbly. "I haven't thought about it," he said, but that was such a lie, of course he had. He just hadn't thought about it in this words, exactly, hadn't thought about it with any coherence, just a sense of want want want. "We can... yes? Please?" He wasn't even sure if he wanted to do them or feel them or what.

"Um, which?" Justin's skin was hot against Joey's hands, and he looked like he was blushing all over, but he was hard as steel against Joey's thigh, and almost quivering with eagerness. "I can, you know, just...do things? And you can say yeah or nah, or whatever, if you want..." He dropped a hand down between Joey's thighs, an awkward angle for his wrist, but his fingers weren't awkward at all.

"I think," said Joey, feeling his whole body shiver for a moment, "that we should just do whatever feels good and not worry about deciding what to do. I... I won't be afraid, if we try new things. I want to. I want to feel it all." He figured that was all the encouragement he would have to give, especially since he was stroking Justin's back and his ass again, and leaning in to suck at his neck.

"I kind of like to have a plan," Justin said with a shy smile. "Just so I know what's okay. But if you're okay with not, then that's fine too." He squirmed down Joey's body with no warning, until he was nuzzling low on Joey's belly, his hair brushing skin everywhere. He nipped lightly at a hipbone, then soothed it with his tongue, eyes carefully on Joey's face, still.

Joey nodded, just slightly, but Justin really didn't need his blessing or permission -- he already had it. "Oh," he breathed again and shifted his hips upwards, feeling his body tingle again. Even though he was getting more used to this, to being in bed with a man, the whole thing still excited him more than he thought was possible. "Baby, yes, you can do whatever you want..." And hopefully, Joey could do whatever he wanted, too, because he had no intention of being a passive observer in the middle of all this.

Justin's big hands stroked up his thighs a little more confidently at his words, curling around the backs to pull Joey closer to his mouth, and his eyelashes fluttered closed as he extended his tongue to lick the very tip of Joey's cock. He hummed a little, clearly pleased, and took more inside before Joey could even draw a breath.

Justin wasn't lying when he said he loved it, Joey could just *tell*. He'd been on the receiving end of reluctant blowjobs and, while every blowjob was a good blowjob, this was so much more. "God, Justin," he breathed and grabbed hold of Justin's hair, tugging just a little. "Just... don't take me all the way. I want to be inside you, too."

Justin mumbled something that sounded like agreement, and did something with his tongue that made Joey arch and gasp. He was sucking and licking and basically acting like a starving boy presented with a feast, and Joey was so overwhelmed he didn't even notice Justin's hand sneaking down under his chin until a soft fingertip stroked right behind his balls.

His natural instinct was just to spread his legs, not to think about it at all, just to spread and let Justin get closer, let Justin do more. His trust in him was absolute -- he just *knew* that Justin would make him feel incredible, and also that he would stop if Joey needed him to. But Joey didn't think he was going to need him to stop.

Justin hummed approvingly when Joey's thighs fanned out a little, knees up off the bed as he fought against the urge to thrust hard against Justin's tongue. He pulled back for a brief moment, and when he returned the finger teasing Joey was wet and slippery. Then Justin sucked hard, swirling his tongue up Joey's length, and Joey wasn't thinking much of anything.

He could hear his own breaths heaving in and out, trying to stay in control, trying to *last*, but he thought that maybe Justin hadn't been listening to hard when Joey had said he didn't want to take this all the way. And maybe Justin really had the right idea, because Joey was nowhere near stopping him. He clutched at his hair a little harder, a little tighter, and let out an involuntary moan as Justin's tongue swirled around him again.

He noticed when the fingertip pushed gently inside him, though; the feeling was too strange for him to miss. Not painful, just odd, and Joey went still in confusion, jolted back into motion when Justin sucked hard, hollowing his cheeks and bobbing his head and generally working Joey as hard as he'd ever been worked. The finger slipped a little further in.

He opened his mouth to say something, but what would he say? Not stop, not more, not yes or no or god. What came out was "Oh!" and without any input from his brain whatsoever, his body started pushing back against that finger. "Ohhhhh."

Justin made a strangled little sound that could have been a chuckle, and twisted his finger around a little, bending it back towards himself. Joey's hips jerked up helplessly at the sensation that hit him then, turning his hipbones to melted heat, just this side of too-much-pleasure-pain. Justin held him there for a long moment, sucking and humming, and then slowly pulled off and away, stroking Joey's thighs and peering up at him with a little smile. "Howwuzzat?" his voice was thick and a little hoarse, his mouth all puffy.

"Uh huh," mumbled Joey, and he knew, he just knew, that his face had to be absolutely red, with anticipation and maybe a little embarrassment. He wanted more, could feel himself involuntarily pushing toward Justin again to get it. "Um. Wow. God, Justin, is it always like that?

Justin's smile was shyly pleased. "Yeah, pretty much, at least for me, I like it." He licked his lips and pressed Joey's hips flat against the bed, keeping him from moving. "I could, I could do more. Or just a little different, if you promise not to think it's gross." He ran his thumb up the underside of Joey's cock, an idle caress that made Joey's muscles jump.

Joey shook his head vehemently. "None of this is gross, Justin, this is... fucking amazing. Fucking amazing." He took a few deep breaths, just to get his breathing and his body under control again. He wanted this so much he was shaking. "I'll try anything, I'll try it all."

"'Kay." Justin darted up to kiss him firmly, then slid back down, dropping little kisses down Joey's body as he went. He glanced up uncertainly one more time, then ducked his head and licked high up on the inside of Joey's thigh, pushing his leg out a little wider with one hand. All Joey could see now was a halo of wild curls, and all he could feel was Justin's tongue exploring him, licking the crease of his body, his balls, and then the strip of skin behind them.

He hadn't seen this coming. He should've, but he hadn't, not at all, and after the initial "whoa!" reaction he relaxed into the bed and let it feel good. Let it feel *wonderful*. It was just so fucking intimate, the kind of thing that he couldn't imagine doing with anyone else, ever, but with Justin it was just comfortable and good. "Definitely not gross," he murmured again, spreading his legs deliberately this time and just let this go where it was going.

Justin's hands were locked firmly around his legs, pushing them up and out as he made himself comfortable where he was, settling in. When his tongue finally touched the entrance to Joey's body, Joey was practically purring at the feeling. "Not gross," Justin mumbled just loud enough to be heard, before licking. "Nice. You like it?"

"Yeah, yeah," said Joey, his voice getting stronger as he got more sure of what Justin was doing. His hands moved restlessly in Justin's hair and he didn't know what else he could do, not in the position he was in. "Oh, yeah. You like, too? Doing that? Yeah?"

"Hmmm," Justin hummed an affirmative, buzzing against sensitive skin, and Joey was pretty sure that Justin was blushing. "Mmm-hmm. Like making you go all squirmy." Justin suited actions to words, licking a little harder and deeper until Joey's hips were twisting with need and brand-new good feelings.

Joey squeezed his eyes shut and tried to think unsexy thoughts for a moment but it was no use at all. Not when Justin was doing that to his body. "Just so you know," he said, trying to keep his voice as conversational as possible. And failing miserably when Justin hit a wonderfully sensitive spot and he gasped. "The moment you touch my dick again I'm going to come."

Justin's head popped up, rumpled as a baby lion, his eyes bright and happy. "Yeah? Did you mean it when you said you didn't wanna come without doing...well, you know, me? Because otherwise I'm just gonna." His thumb pressed firmly into the crease between Joey's thigh and body and stroked back and forth, twisting that knot of pleasure a little bit tighter. "I'm good >either way."

"I can do it again after," Joey promised him, shifting his body and trying to get the touch he craved. "I'll still do you, I promise, just this? First? With you, and your hand and your tongue and... yeah. Please?"

"Okay," Justin said agreeably, and settled down between Joey's legs again, though this time he touched Joey with a finger again, not his tongue. It slipped in easily, and Justin curled it and found that incredible spot, at the same time as he sank his mouth down on Joey's cock again. It was almost too much of a shock to move, especially after the moment of no contact, and then it was like all of Joey's nerve endings exploded at once.

"Oh God!" he said, and it was *loud*, loud enough that it felt like it echoed back to his ears. He would have felt guilty for coming so fast and so hard, but he'd warned him, Justin had known what he was getting into. So Joey just rode it out, panting and moaning and squirming, and enjoyed every second of it.

Justin seemed to be enjoying it too, if the rhythmic drive of his hips against the bed was any indication. He licked Joey clean, then dropped his forehead against Joey's hip and groaned softly, squirming his body against the bedspread and digging his fingers into Joey's thighs.

"Justin, let me, let me," Joey said once he could think again, once he realized what Justin was doing. But by the time he got to that point, he figured he was just a little bit too late. "God, come here, come here, want to touch you, hold you..." He was babbling and grabbing at him, but he figured he got the most important message across.

Justin reacted to his grab by pushing himself upJoey's body in one long slide, tucking his face into Joey's neck as his cock slipped between Joey's thighs. One powerful thrust, two, and Justin was coming in a quick hot rush and whimpering against Joey's skin, and going limp.

That, Joey figured, was infinitely better than Justin coming when he *wasn't* draped over Joey's body, messy as it was. He wrapped his arms around Justin and held him close and kissed those soft, messy curls. "Yeah," he breathed and let himself relax, too. "Oh, you're wonderful."

Justin made a little exhausted sound and didn't move so much as a muscle. He felt completely drained and limp against Joey, and Joey remembered the exhaustion on his face way back before the show, and wondered how he'd made it so long. Then, a tiny snore. Justin was sleeping, dead weight and heavy, legs still hooked around Joey's and sticky with sweat and come.

Joey almost laughed, but he was afraid of waking him. And really, there was no real hope of extricating himself either, without doing the same, so he pulled the covers up as much as he could and got comfortable and let Justin sleep, tangled up with him. Everything else -- and there was a lot of everything else -- could wait for tomorrow.

* * *

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