Chapter 15

"And no matter what I do, I feel the pain...with or without you..." Justin, JC, Joey, Chris and Lance finished.

Their effort was met with a round of applause. "Thank you!" Justin yelled. They all grinned and ran offstage. Lou was waiting.

"Beautiful job," Lou said, patting them all on the back as they walked by. He held Lance up. "Hold on a sec. You guys go." They ignored him and turned to wait for Lance. "You seemed a little off," Lou said.

Lance raised an eyebrow, but JC cut in before he could speak. "He did fine," he protested. Lou silenced him with a glare.

Lance's eyebrow raised again, but he felt anger bubbling up. "How do you know I didn't put in 100%?" he snapped. "You don't know me, or how much I put into my performances, I did that one to the best of my ability."

Lou grew angry. He grabbed Lance by the arm and pulled him over to a corner, out of sight. Lou pushed Lance into the wall and he yelped when he felt his shoulder hit the brick.

"You listen to me, kid," Lou growled. "You will give 200% at ALL performances. I will NOT let YOU ruin this."

"You can't tell me what to do. You don't own me," Lance retorted angrily. Lou stepped forward, a menacing grin on his face. "That's where you're wrong. I own all five of you. Don't you get it? I own you, Lance."

Lance's eyes began to glow with anger, but he took a few deep, calming breaths. "You better watch what you do, Lou."

"You watch what you do, Lance. Don't embarrass me." The threatening air of his voice was unmistakable and Lance swallowed. Then, Lou's phone rang, interrupting him. Lance moved to get by, but Lou blocked his path.

"What?" Lou barked. He listened. "Oh hi! Oh you do? Wow, really? That's great!" Lance looked at him curiously. "We'll be there in two days. Yes. Bye." He turned to look at Lance. "You didn't ruin it...yet." Then he plastered a smile on his face. Then he put an arm around the blonde's shoulder and let him to the other four guys. They all looked at the pair curiously.

The minute they stopped, Lance pulled out from under Lou's arm and stepped away, disgust on his face. "Who called?" he asked dryly.

"That was the label," Lou grinned. "They want you to start recording the new songs for the American album in two days."

"Probably. They need to see that you guys write...regardless of the fact that it repeats itself a few too many times..."

Lance sighed, pushing the images running through his mind away. "Not really. Maybe."

JC shrugged. "Whenever you want to," he said, slightly disappointed, but Lance didn't notice. He left, shutting the door behind him. Lance sat down heavily, rubbing his now throbbing temples.

"I kind of...kind of overheard you talking..." Joey said, uneasily shifting his weight from one foot to another.

"About what happened to Chris...Um...some guy named Benny?" Joey was nervous. He hoped Lance wasn't too mad at him for eavesdropping. "Do you...do you think someone tried to hurt Chris on purpose?" Joey whispered.

Lance sighed. "Come in, Joey. I'm not mad at you." Joey sighed, and came in. "I don't know if someone tried. As far as we know, it was an accident. Benny is someone from...from home that I never got along with. That's something between us two that..." he was interrupted by the phone ringing. He held up a finger to Joey while he answered.

"Hello?" he waited. "Oh hi Violet!" he said. Joey looked at him confused, but Lance's expression was happy. He decided the conversation could wait, and let Lance know that he was leaving. "Yeah, I'm fine," Lance said, acknowledging Joey with a mouthed "thank you" that was all too familiar for Joey, and wave of his hand. Confused, Joey left the room. "Thanks for calling, Vi," Lance said. "I was in a bind there..."

Lance once again rubbed his temples. He laid down on his back. Then he let the images resurface. His death replayed itself over in his mind. The pain, the agony, the taunting was all relived. It happened every year on this day, the anniversary of the day he died.

Lou looked them over and he smiled. "Okay." He handed them to their manager, Johnny Wright, who pointed out several he liked. "So here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna keep Tearin' Up My Heart, that's a hot song."

Lance raised an eyebrow. "Hot?" he whispered to Joey, who laughed. "I didn't know old guys talked like that." He shut up at Johnny's warning glare, but Lance could see the amusement in his eyes.

"That'll be first. Second...is a new song. It's called I Just Wanna Be With You. Boy, that's a mouthful," he chuckled, setting the song down. "Third...What do you think we should put there?"

"Maybe a slower song," suggested Johnny. "Keep it balanced. You could put Sailing there again?"

"Nah, I want Sailing closer to the end," Lou said. "Maybe...well, we'll come back to that one. Fourth should definitely be a slower song..."

Lou thought it over and nodded. "I like that. And fifth...we have a new song, you haven't heard it, but it's a slow one. You'll like it." Lyrics were passed out to all five members. "It's great for your voices." Joey read the title. "Got Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You," he said. "I like it."

Lance had a sudden coughing fit. Of all the irony, he told himself. "You guys have a sense of humor, don't you?" he muttered, so low that no one even knew he was talking. "I like it a lot," he said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "In fact, I love it."

"So that's fifth," Lou said. "Then sixth...hmm...we need to speed it up a little bit...what about You Got It?"

"Hey, I know what we could do for track 3," Justin said. "Why don't we put in I Want You Back? That way, the first two singles released over here will be on top..."

"Because some people will buy the CD just for those two singles. We don't want them to listen to three songs and then turn of the CD, do we?"

"Anyway, Riddle is out. We're gonna replace that with...hmm...I Just Wanna be with You, and that's already in there. God Must Have Spent replaces...Together Again. We can put I Want You Back on track 8. Track 9...that'll be a cover of Bread's song, Everything I Own. That'll be there instead of...hmm...More Than a Feeling."

"But we can't have three covers on one album, JC," Lou said as if he was talking to a child. "We need some of your own stuff." JC glared at him. "Now," Lou continued. "Let's have...Here We Go be third. Fitting."

"And that was the other album," Lou replied. Lance glared at him, but kept his mouth shut. "We're gonna take off Best of My Life and replace it with I Drive Myself Crazy...that's a great song, I can see it already. Not too fast, not too slow. Sailing will be number twelve. That leave Crazy for You...I guess that can go in eleven."

"So you're taking off Forever Young?" JC asked. Lance remembered; JC had specifically liked that one before.

"Yeah," said Lou. "That's not your sound." And you would know how? Lance asked himself. "And besides," Lou continued. "You sound like you have a cold in that song." JC glared at him. "So that makes it Tearin' Up My Heart, I Just Wanna Be With You, Here We Go, For the Girl Who has Everything, God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You, You Got It, I Need Love---"

"Wait," JC interrupted. "You're KEEPING I Need Love, but you're taking off More than a Feeling and Best of My Life? Something's not right there," he said. "I Need Love is NOT a good song."

"I've been in this business longer than you. The Backstreet Boys sell albums with those types of songs, so you will sell albums with those types of songs."

"But we're NOT the Backstreet Boys," Chris said, voicing his opinion. "We're completely different, in fact."

"You sing the same type of music as them," Lou said. "It will work. I told you, I've been in this business longer than you."

"You've also sold blimps and played with airplanes for New Kids on the Block," Lance retorted. Lou glared at him. Lance smiled sweetly, and even Johnny cracked a smile at that one.

"LIKE I WAS SAYING," Lou continued, ignoring the snort of laughter from Chris, "I Need Love is number 7--"

"We won't have to rerecord it, will we? Because I don't know if I can sing that song again..." JC interrupted.

"No," Lou said calmly. "You won't. I Want You Back is number 8. That's followed by Everything I Own and I Drive Myself Crazy. Then you finish up with Crazy for You, Sailing, and Giddy Up."

"I agree with JC, but I like it anyway." Lance was surprised JC was being so vocal. He usually took things as they came. Maybe he was starting to come into his own.

"Right," Lance rolled his eyes. "You say jump, I say how high..." Lou's grin grew. Lance continued. "...Would I have to be to take orders from you?" The grin dropped and Lance snickered. He left the room. "And I'm supposed to be the shy one."


	Inner Reflection \| home back to Sent From Above Chapter 15 "And no matter what I do, I feel the pain...with or without you..." Justin, JC, Joey, Chris and Lance finished. Their effort was met with a round of applause. "Thank you!" Justin yelled. They all grinned and ran offstage. Lou was waiting. "Beautiful job," Lou said, patting them all on the back as they walked by. He held Lance up. "Hold on a sec. You guys go." They ignored him and turned to wait for Lance. "You seemed a little off," Lou said. Lance raised an eyebrow, but JC cut in before he could speak. "He did fine," he protested. Lou silenced him with a glare. "You all right?" Lou asked. "You didn't put in 100%. That worries me, Lance." Lance's eyebrow raised again, but he felt anger bubbling up. "How do you know I didn't put in 100%?" he snapped. "You don't know me, or how much I put into my performances, I did that one to the best of my ability." Lou grew angry. He grabbed Lance by the arm and pulled him over to a corner, out of sight. Lou pushed Lance into the wall and he yelped when he felt his shoulder hit the brick. "You listen to me, kid," Lou growled. "You will give 200% at ALL performances. I will NOT let YOU ruin this." "You can't tell me what to do. You don't own me," Lance retorted angrily. Lou stepped forward, a menacing grin on his face. "That's where you're wrong. I own all five of you. Don't you get it? I own you, Lance." Lance's eyes began to glow with anger, but he took a few deep, calming breaths. "You better watch what you do, Lou." "You watch what you do, Lance. Don't embarrass me." The threatening air of his voice was unmistakable and Lance swallowed. Then, Lou's phone rang, interrupting him. Lance moved to get by, but Lou blocked his path. "What?" Lou barked. He listened. "Oh hi! Oh you do? Wow, really? That's great!" Lance looked at him curiously. "We'll be there in two days. Yes. Bye." He turned to look at Lance. "You didn't ruin it...yet." Then he plastered a smile on his face. Then he put an arm around the blonde's shoulder and let him to the other four guys. They all looked at the pair curiously. The minute they stopped, Lance pulled out from under Lou's arm and stepped away, disgust on his face. "Who called?" he asked dryly. "That was the label," Lou grinned. "They want you to start recording the new songs for the American album in two days." "Two days?!?" "Yes." "What songs?" JC asked curiously. "We're not sure yet," Lou said. "Some new, some old." "Is Giddy Up gonna be on there again?" Chris wondered. "Probably. They need to see that you guys write...regardless of the fact that it repeats itself a few too many times..." "Hey, you added that last part in there, not me!" Chris protested. ****** "Lance, you all right?" JC asked. "Fine," he replied. "Just had something else on my mind. Remembering something." "Wanna talk about it?" Lance sighed, pushing the images running through his mind away. "Not really. Maybe." JC shrugged. "Whenever you want to," he said, slightly disappointed, but Lance didn't notice. He left, shutting the door behind him. Lance sat down heavily, rubbing his now throbbing temples. "Lance?" Joey asked, opening the door. "What?" he asked. "I kind of...kind of overheard you talking..." Joey said, uneasily shifting his weight from one foot to another. Lance sat up straight. "About what?" "About what happened to Chris...Um...some guy named Benny?" Joey was nervous. He hoped Lance wasn't too mad at him for eavesdropping. "Do you...do you think someone tried to hurt Chris on purpose?" Joey whispered. Lance sighed. "Come in, Joey. I'm not mad at you." Joey sighed, and came in. "I don't know if someone tried. As far as we know, it was an accident. Benny is someone from...from home that I never got along with. That's something between us two that..." he was interrupted by the phone ringing. He held up a finger to Joey while he answered. "Hello?" he waited. "Oh hi Violet!" he said. Joey looked at him confused, but Lance's expression was happy. He decided the conversation could wait, and let Lance know that he was leaving. "Yeah, I'm fine," Lance said, acknowledging Joey with a mouthed "thank you" that was all too familiar for Joey, and wave of his hand. Confused, Joey left the room. "Thanks for calling, Vi," Lance said. "I was in a bind there..." "Right," she said. "How are you holding up?" "Fine," he sighed. "Listen, I better go...it's time anyway." "Sorry kid," she said. "Who you calling kid? I'm older than you are," he joked weakly. "Yeah," she said. "Bye Lance." "By Vi." Lance once again rubbed his temples. He laid down on his back. Then he let the images resurface. His death replayed itself over in his mind. The pain, the agony, the taunting was all relived. It happened every year on this day, the anniversary of the day he died. >~Two days later: The studio~ "Which ones are we using?" Lou asked. "We don't like many of them, but the ones we like are in this pile," JC said. Lou looked them over and he smiled. "Okay." He handed them to their manager, Johnny Wright, who pointed out several he liked. "So here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna keep Tearin' Up My Heart, that's a hot song." Lance raised an eyebrow. "Hot?" he whispered to Joey, who laughed. "I didn't know old guys talked like that." He shut up at Johnny's warning glare, but Lance could see the amusement in his eyes. "That'll be first. Second...is a new song. It's called I Just Wanna Be With You. Boy, that's a mouthful," he chuckled, setting the song down. "Third...What do you think we should put there?" "Maybe a slower song," suggested Johnny. "Keep it balanced. You could put Sailing there again?" "Nah, I want Sailing closer to the end," Lou said. "Maybe...well, we'll come back to that one. Fourth should definitely be a slower song..." "What about 'For the Girl?'" JC asked, shortening the title. Lou thought it over and nodded. "I like that. And fifth...we have a new song, you haven't heard it, but it's a slow one. You'll like it." Lyrics were passed out to all five members. "It's great for your voices." Joey read the title. "Got Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You," he said. "I like it." Lance had a sudden coughing fit. Of all the irony, he told himself. "You guys have a sense of humor, don't you?" he muttered, so low that no one even knew he was talking. "I like it a lot," he said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "In fact, I love it." "Me too," Justin said. "Me three," JC voiced his opinion. "I like it too," Chris said. "So that's fifth," Lou said. "Then sixth...hmm...we need to speed it up a little bit...what about You Got It?" "I like it," Lance said. "The harmonies are good for a fast song." "7th...hmm...We'll come back to that," Lou said, though he had an idea. "Hey, I know what we could do for track 3," Justin said. "Why don't we put in I Want You Back? That way, the first two singles released over here will be on top..." Lou chuckled. "You don't do that." "Why not?" "Because some people will buy the CD just for those two singles. We don't want them to listen to three songs and then turn of the CD, do we?" "No we don't," Chris said, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, Riddle is out. We're gonna replace that with...hmm...I Just Wanna be with You, and that's already in there. God Must Have Spent replaces...Together Again. We can put I Want You Back on track 8. Track 9...that'll be a cover of Bread's song, Everything I Own. That'll be there instead of...hmm...More Than a Feeling." "But that's a great song," JC protested. "The fans all love it!" "But we can't have three covers on one album, JC," Lou said as if he was talking to a child. "We need some of your own stuff." JC glared at him. "Now," Lou continued. "Let's have...Here We Go be third. Fitting." Johnny nodded his agreement. "Sounds good." "Okay. 10th...well, I think Giddy Up should be last...we'll end up with 13 songs." "There were fourteen on the other album," Joey pointed out. "And that was the other album," Lou replied. Lance glared at him, but kept his mouth shut. "We're gonna take off Best of My Life and replace it with I Drive Myself Crazy...that's a great song, I can see it already. Not too fast, not too slow. Sailing will be number twelve. That leave Crazy for You...I guess that can go in eleven." "So you're taking off Forever Young?" JC asked. Lance remembered; JC had specifically liked that one before. "Yeah," said Lou. "That's not your sound." And you would know how? Lance asked himself. "And besides," Lou continued. "You sound like you have a cold in that song." JC glared at him. "So that makes it Tearin' Up My Heart, I Just Wanna Be With You, Here We Go, For the Girl Who has Everything, God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You, You Got It, I Need Love---" "Wait," JC interrupted. "You're KEEPING I Need Love, but you're taking off More than a Feeling and Best of My Life? Something's not right there," he said. "I Need Love is NOT a good song." "I've been in this business longer than you. The Backstreet Boys sell albums with those types of songs, so you will sell albums with those types of songs." "But we're NOT the Backstreet Boys," Chris said, voicing his opinion. "We're completely different, in fact." "You sing the same type of music as them," Lou said. "It will work. I told you, I've been in this business longer than you." "You've also sold blimps and played with airplanes for New Kids on the Block," Lance retorted. Lou glared at him. Lance smiled sweetly, and even Johnny cracked a smile at that one. "LIKE I WAS SAYING," Lou continued, ignoring the snort of laughter from Chris, "I Need Love is number 7--" "We won't have to rerecord it, will we? Because I don't know if I can sing that song again..." JC interrupted. "No," Lou said calmly. "You won't. I Want You Back is number 8. That's followed by Everything I Own and I Drive Myself Crazy. Then you finish up with Crazy for You, Sailing, and Giddy Up." "Sounds good to me," Johnny said. "All right," Joey said. Chris agreed, and so did Justin. "I don't like I Need Love, but it sounds okay," JC said. "I agree with JC, but I like it anyway." Lance was surprised JC was being so vocal. He usually took things as they came. Maybe he was starting to come into his own. "Good. Tomorrow we'll start to lay down the vocals for the new songs." "Sounds good." "So we'll see you then?" asked Justin. "Yes." "Bye Lou," they chorused as they all filed out. Lou grabbed onto Lance's arm. Lance pulled it back. "What?" "Remember..." "Right," Lance rolled his eyes. "You say jump, I say how high..." Lou's grin grew. Lance continued. "...Would I have to be to take orders from you?" The grin dropped and Lance snickered. He left the room. "And I'm supposed to be the shy one."